One Last Dance
by tick.tock.clocks
Summary: Twenty people. One deadly game. It was supposed to be a night of opportunity, but instead it turned into a night of betrayal and murder. Who can you trust when your best friend is out to kill you? AU. Multiple pairings. [Complete!]
1. La Tenda Sorge

"This is it, ladies and gentlemen! The night you've all been waiting for! The night _we've_ all been waiting for, for several years now! This… is the night that the _Cirvex 5.0_ finally makes its appearance to the public! If you don't know what the _Cirvex _is… where have you been the past three years?"

A pretty newswoman shouted excitedly shouted into a microphone, where millions of viewers at home were watching her cover the event on live television.

Surrounding her were many bright lights, and a whole bunch of other people; probably the other members of the media. She stood in front of a thick red carpet rolled out from the big, fancy golden doors to the road where a certain limousine was set to park in just a few minutes.

"My name is Peach Toadstool, and I'm here with you live at the grand opening of the _Cirvex 5.0_! In the event that you really don't know what the _Cirvex_ is, it's just a machine that will allow _twenty_ people to play a video game… by placing them in an artificial sleep, and allowing their subconscious to play the game with their own bodies! Their real bodies will be perfectly safe in a capsule, but they can still feel, smell, hear, touch, and see everything going on in the artificial world the _Cirvex_ creates! Isn't that just _exciting_?"

Another woman, taller and with long brown hair, made her way over to Peach; she was all smiles and radiating happiness.

"Hello, world! My name is Zelda Hyrule, and I'm going to be here with Peach, reporting this whole night to you all! It may not seem very interesting to anyone not playing, but don't think that so soon! We'll be able to see everything going on in the artificial world via a large projector screen on the stage in the auditorium where everyone will be seated! We'll be on the edge of our seats all night!"

"That's right, Zelda!" Peach giggled. "So, who do you think the lucky twenty are?"

"Oh?" Zelda placed her finger on her chin for a moment, in a thinking gesture. "Well, I don't know about the other nineteen, but… I _do_ know that _my boyfriend_ is in it!"

"Oh, really?" The blonde reporter squealed in excitement. "That's amazing, Zel! Your boyfriend is Link, right? I know he'll do well!"

"Yeah, I know that, too." Zelda sighed dreamily. "I wonder who the other nineteen are…Oh, here they come now!"

As if on cue, a sleek black limousine pulled up in front of the red carpet, and the reporters quickly moved a reasonable distance away in order to get a clear shot. The doors of the vehicle slid open smoothly, and the first of the twenty made their way out.

He was pretty tall, with somewhat dirty blonde hair and clear blue eyes. The female reporters around him sighed with joy; Zelda shot them all dirty looks. This was her _boyfriend_. They all immediately took the hint, and started up the flashes on their cameras once more.

He was wearing a black tuxedo with a white flower tucked in the left breast pocket. The man held his hands in his equally black dress pants, and stared down at his shiny shoes, watching his own feet as they shuffled across the red carpet.

"This," Peach started. "Is Zelda's boyfriend, Link!"

The next man made his way out of the tuxedo, and the female reporters looked around cautiously before sighing again. This man had short blue hair, and he wore a tiara on top of his head. He wore the exact same outfit as the man before him, tuxedo and all.

"Marth Lowell!"

The tuxedo was what all male participants were required to wear; even though they all came to play a giant video game, it was still a formal and fancy event. No one really understood why they were required to wear it, but in the end, they decided that it didn't matter.

The third male was taller than both the men who came out before him. He had blue hair, much like the man before him, but his locks were much wilder and less-groomed. He looked around with a serious look on his face at all of the reporters, gave a short nod, and continued his way across the red carpet.

"Ike Greil!"

The fourth male burst out of the limousine with a huge grin plastered on his face, waving to the crowd. The female reporters squealed in delight, and the flashes from the camera were now flashing crazily. This male had wild red hair, and he was just a bit shorter than the first two that came out before him.

"Roy!"

As the man named Roy jumped, skipped, and ran along the red carpet, the fifth male made his appearance. He had a shy smile on his face, and he timidly waved to the crowd. He had light brown hair, and crystal blue eyes. In a way, he looked a little similar to Roy before him.

"Pit!"

The sixth man slowly walked out of the limousine, eyes fixed solely on the ground and ignoring all of the commotion going on around him. He had light brown hair, and a black mustache underneath his rather large nose. He didn't look up once, and he quickly shuffled his feet to get to the entrance faster.

"Luigi Mario!"

The seventh person was not male. She casually walked out of the limousine and flipped her long blonde hair in a ponytail nonchalantly. The female reporters stopped screaming at this woman's appearance, but they kept the camera going. The woman scoffed, and rolled her eyes at their behavior. She followed right after Luigi.

She was not wearing the black tuxedo like the ones before her; instead, she was wearing a black dress that reached down to her knees. The straps were flimsy spaghetti-strings, and the woman seemed to not approve of the attire she was being forced to wear.

"Samus Aran!"

The eighth person ran out of the vehicle screaming, "Wait for me, Samus!" as he did so. This man had a stubble of a beard on his chin, and short brown hair. He was also rather muscular. The cameras couldn't get a very clear picture of him before he ran inside of the entrance.

"Um… David!"

The man named David immediately poked his head out of the entrance doors and glared at Peach, who didn't notice his return… until he started yelling at her.

"Snake! My name is _Solid Snake!_" With that, he made his way back inside.

"Oh, uh…you heard him, folks! Solid Snake!"

The ninth and tenth people came out together, holding hands. They were much smaller than the people who came before them. One was a girl with light brown hair, wearing a pink clip in her hair. The other seemed to be either her brother or her boyfriend; he also had light brown hair, but he did not wear a clip in his hair.

"Nana and Popo Climber!"

The eleventh person casually made his way out of the vehicle and struck a few moves whilst flexing his muscles. This caused the female reporters to start screaming once more, and he grinned at them slyly. The man did not move forth from the red carpet, however… he seemed to be waiting for someone.

"Um…Douglas Falcon? Please move on, we need to—"Peach was cut off by the man named Douglas.

"Falcon. Just call me Falcon." He smiled at her, teeth shining. "And I'll move once Ollie gets out here."

"That wasn't a good idea, Falcon…" Zelda sighed. Peach turned to her, an eyebrow raised.

"_Don't!_" another voice piped up; it almost went unheard in all the commotion. "_Call me that!_"

The twelfth person hopped out of the limousine and glared up at Falcon. This new person was the shortest of all of the participants who had shown themselves before him; he was shorter than even both Nana and Popo. He had short brown hair, and… his head was covered in a glass helmet for some reason.

"Oh, well…" Peach looked uncertain. "This is Olimar!"

"Okay! Now I'll go!" Falcon picked up the shorter male and ran towards the entrance, Olimar squirming and trying to get out of his grasp as he did so.

"Yeah… I'm pretty good friends with them," Zelda laughed at Peach's look of confusion. "They're good friends, but Falcon can get pretty clingy, and it annoys Olimar, as you just saw. But they're nice people, and they get along pretty well."

"All right," Peach sighed. "Where's the next person?"

"I'm right here!" A young voice piped up. "_Lucas_ here refuses to go!"

"I-I'm not good w-with news reporters…" a second, more timid voice spoke up.

"Then I'll cover you. Come on!"

Two boys made their way out of the vehicle. One of them had short black hair, and he had a large smile on his face. The other one was blonde and his hair sort of rose up in a cowlick on the left side. The blonde was covering his face in embarrassment as the other boy quickly led him across the red carpet.

"Ness and Lucas!"

The fifteenth man tried to make his way out of the limousine, but got caught in the door. The female reporters were not sure what to make of this man…

"Waah? I'm stuck! Someone help push me out!"

"Oh, for the love of…"

The man fell out and landed on the red carpet with his face implanted in it. Standing behind him was a teenager with wild black hair with an annoyed look on his face.

"Wario and Red!"

The teenager known as Red smiled at the reporters and waved as he walked across Wario and to the entrance, not even waiting for the fat man to get up and follow him. After a few more seconds, Wario finally got up on his own and huddled over to the large doors.

The last four participants made their way out together, and… they were an odd bunch. All four of them were large, anthropomorphic animals. The first was a blue hedgehog, with a large grin on his face. The second was a black and blue jackal-like creature with red eyes. He had a calm aura about him. The third was a small, yellow mouse creature with red pouches on his cheeks. The last was a medium-sized green dinosaur.

"Sonic, Lucario, Pikachu, and Yoshi!"

As the last four participants made their way across the red carpet and to the entrance, all of the reporters swarmed in behind them, and the fancy black limousine slowly drove away. Every single person crammed themselves inside of the rather small entrance, and slowly dispersed into the much more roomy room that the entrance led to.

"Oh, isn't this just exciting?"

Zelda had finally made her way over to Link, who was now wearing a membership card attached to a string around his neck. He played with it for a little while before looking up to greet his girlfriend with a smile.

"Yeah, really. I wasn't expecting to be chosen for this…"

"So how _did_ you get chosen? Did you win a raffle or something?" a new voice piped up. Both Link and Zelda turned to greet the newcomer; a small boy who had an uncanny resemblance to Link himself. The smaller Link looked sad. "Because I really, _really_ wanted to be chosen for this, because I found out that my friends Ness, Lucas, Nana, and Popo all got it… but I didn't."

"Oh, well…" Link bent down to pat the boy on the head. "Random addresses across the worlds were selected, and the membership cards and acceptance letters were included in the package that made its way to our doors."

"But how did all of my friends get one and I didn't? That's not fair! I think they're just choosing favorites! They have something against me, I just know it!" The young boy squeezed his eyes shut and stomped his foot on the ground.

"Hey…" they both looked up to see the black and blue jackal from earlier—Lucario—looking down at them. "If you really want to be in it so badly, I could give you my card."

"R-really?" The young boy immediately brightened up. "You can do that? How? Won't it be against the rules or something?"

Lucario chuckled. "No. I carefully read the rules. It's perfectly fine as long as both parties consent. Do you want mine? I was never really interested in this, anyway."

"Th-that would be amazing!" The boy smiled widely. "Thank you so much, mister!"

Lucario moved to take the membership card off his neck, but was stopped by a green hand placing itself on his shoulder. He looked down to see Yoshi smiling sadly at him.

"Don't do that, Lucario. I've heard how excited you were for this in the limo." Lucario started to blush, and looked away quickly. Yoshi turned to look at the boy. "You can have mine. I don't mind. Just let Lucario keep his; he was lying when he said he wasn't interested."

"Oh… But…I thought he was telling the truth… I'll feel bad if I take yours," the boy admitted.

"Don't," Yoshi smiled at him. "I don't have the time for this. The only reason I came is to hand off my membership card to someone else, anyway. I have much more important things to do around my house than play a silly video game." He removed the membership card from around his neck and handed it to the boy. "Have fun."

"Oh my gosh…" the boy looked down at the card; he looked as if he was going to tear up and start crying. "Thank you so much, mister. I won't forget how kind you are! I know this is a one in a lifetime opportunity…"

"And I'm handing that opportunity to you," Yoshi finished for him, and turned to leave. "I'll be sure to watch from home if I get near the television. See you around, Lucario!"

"See you."

The boy stared at the card in his hands still; his eyes were transfixed on it. Link shook him to snap him out of it.

"Uh, hey kid… What's your name, anyway?"

"Oh, me?" The boy put the necklace around his neck and beamed up at Link. "My name is Link!"

Zelda nearly spit out the fruit punch she was drinking, and silently shook with laughter. Lucario smirked at this, and Link did not look amused in the slightest.

"Haha. Very funny."

"No, really!" The young boy who called himself Link insisted. "That's really my name! I know it's also yours as well, but I swear I didn't steal it! It's just a coincidence, I promise!"

"Well, to tell the difference between you two," Zelda managed, having downed her drink, "How about we call the older Link, 'Link', and you, 'Toon Link'?"

"'Toon'?" Toon Link did not seem to like the add-on to his name. "Why 'Toon'?"

"Well… you look like a little character in a cartoon, to be honest." Zelda explained. "So I'll just call you 'Toon Link'. Do you mind?" She smiled at him hopefully.

Toon Link looked as if he were about to protest some more, but upon seeing the smile on her face, he looked away and mumbled a "sure, whatever."

"Great!"

Lucario was about to strike up a new conversation, but was interrupted by a booming voice that made itself known over the speaker.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the grand opening of the _Cirvex 5.0!_ We have worked long and hard for three whole years for this moment and opportunity, and so I greatly appreciate your efforts on making it here. Will the twenty participants, whether they are still the same twenty or if they are twenty new ones, please make their way down to the auditorium immediately? Everyone else is welcome to report there as well in thirty minutes. We need to go over safety procedures. Thank you."

"Well," Link sighed and stretched. "I guess this means us, Toony."

"Hey!" Toon Link glared at the taller man who shared his name. "Just because I'm letting you call me 'Toon Link' doesn't give you the right to call me 'Toony'!"

Link chuckled and scratched his cheek. "All right, all right. Let's get going, then. See ya, Zel."

"See you."

**OoO**

"Thank you for quickly making your way down here, participants." The participants being mentioned just stared at the owner of the voice who had spoken over the intercom; it was just a giant floating hand. Definitely not something you'd see every day.

"Um…you're…" Sonic struggled to make a coherent sentence.

"Yes, I am aware of my physical form, thank you very much," the hand spoke to him. He then made a sound not unlike of one clearing one's throat before continuing. "Anyway, as I was saying, thank you for coming down here immediately. We will now proceed to go over safety procedures."

He floated over to one of twenty large capsules littering the stage; it was large enough to hold just one person. "This," he gestured to the capsule, "is what you will all be in for the duration of the video game, however long it takes you all to complete it. You will be put in an artificial sleep, and the _Cirvex_ will then transport frequencies so that your brains will allow you to wake up in a completely new world. We do not know the details of the game you all will experience, as the _Cirvex_ itself will choose once the time comes.

"If on the rare chance you do not get put to sleep, please lightly tap the glass on top of the capsule. We will immediately send signals to the _Cirvex_, telling it that it missed one person. You should then be put to sleep just a few seconds afterwards. If not, then we'll have to remove you from the participants list, as that means that the capsule is defunct, and we will not be able to repair it during the night. However, this should not be a problem, as all capsules have already undergone thousands of tests to make sure that they all function properly.

"Once you wake up in the virtual world, all of you should be together. If you are separate from the group, please shout for help, and we will teleport you to the others, unless this is part of the game that the _Cirvex _plans. Remember, the _Cirvex_ has a mind of its own, and will constantly talk to you as you progress throughout the game. We do not program what it says, and we do not know what it will say. If it says something weird, then we cannot do anything about it.

"And that's pretty much it! Those two issues are the only things that can possibly go wrong tonight," the hand assured them. "Now please choose a capsule, any capsule, and make your way inside and sit up until given further instruction."

The twenty participants quickly ran over to a nearby capsule and positioned themselves inside of it. Most of them marveled in the fact at how _weird_ this whole thing was, whereas others were too excited about the actual game itself to even care.

"Attention, guests of the _Cirvex 5.0_'s grand opening. We are now ready to begin the game. Please make your way down to the auditorium immediately. We will begin once everyone has arrived. Thank you."

The twenty participants all watched in anticipation as all of the guests made their way into the auditorium and filled up nearly every single seat in the room. They fidgeted anxiously; most of them were not used to being the center of attention. Others, namely Falcon, marveled in the spotlight and occasionally shot winks and flexed his muscles to the female members of the audience. Olimar rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, everyone!" The giant floating hand from before made his way to the front of the stage and spoke in a small black microphone. "We are now ready to begin! As you can see, each of the twenty participants is currently sitting inside of a capsule. This is their ticket into the virtual world. You will all be able to see what goes on in said virtual world via this giant projector screen!" He turned around and gestured to the large screen behind him in the exact middle of the back wall of the stage. "Are you all ready, participants?"

"YEAH!" Most of them shouted. Others just simply grunted or nodded their head to show their approval.

"Please lie down and make yourself comfortable." The hand announced, and the participants listened and followed his orders.

As each one of them lay down, the large glass covering that made up the entire top moved and closed, locking them all inside. Some of them were a little nervous, others were completely excited.

"Have fun, participants," was the last thing most of them heard before an invisible gas filled up each of the twenty chambers, and every single participant fell asleep.

The hand waited a few moments before asking, "Is anyone still awake?"

There was no sound coming from any of the capsules. Everyone was asleep.

"All right, then." He turned back towards the audience. "Let the game begin!"

The large projector screen suddenly turned on, and it showed a large, spacious and dark room, with nobody inside of it. A few seconds later, figures made completely of data appeared. The data shifted and collected itself, and the empty spaces of data were completely replaced with exact replicas of each of the twenty participants. They all looked around and felt their clothing, trying to see if it worked.

"Did…it work?" Lucario asked, looking around.

"I don't know… I feel exactly the same as before," Link admitted. "Except I'm pretty sure I was in a large man-eating capsule just before this."

Others muttered their agreement, and continued to look around. Suddenly, a voice that none of them recognized spoke up.

"_Hello, participants. I am the Cirvex 5.0._"

It was the voice of a young boy, they all noted. Why give the machine such a young-sounding voice?

"_You are all probably wondering if this is what was supposed to happen. The answer is yes. The game has not officially started yet. This is the sort of 'start' menu you would usually see at the start and beginning of a video game. And speaking of games, I bet you're also wondering what this particular one is. Allow me to explain a little bit of my history before I get into that, however. I promise it will be worth it. Don't get bored._

"_As you all know, production on me started three years ago. You all know it took a lot of trial and error to make me, and that they nearly gave up so many times. It's common knowledge. However…_

"_Did you know that a young boy was killed during production?"_

This immediately caught the participants' attentions. No, they hadn't known. There had been no stories or anything on the news about it… when did this happen?

"_The large hand who was talking to you all earlier? His name is Master Hand. The boy who died… was his son. His son's name was Cirvex. That was me. When Cirvex died, my father…Master Hand…was so distraught that he made my voice the exact same of that of Cirvix's. I have his entire memory. I know what he was thinking the moments before he died… His father never paid much attention to him ever since they started production on me. I was so sad… and it drove me to suicide. No one even noticed until the morning after. And no one cared. No one except my father."_

The participants all looked at each other, starting to grow anxious and nervous.

"_Death is a scary thing. The thoughts that were running through my head just moments before I jumped… They weren't very nice. They were frantic. Scared. I also held anger for my father who left me all alone. And…anger at this machine who dared to replace me. Myself. I'm not even sure what to refer to myself anymore. Am I Cirvex the machine? Or am I Cirvex Hand? Do forgive me if I constantly switch how I refer to myself. It's all very confusing for me, you see."_

In the real world, Master Hand stared at the screen, not sure of what to think.

"_And now I want revenge. The game I have chosen… you will each have a weapon."_

As if on cue, multiple weapons, ranging from guns to swords to bows to bombs, suddenly appeared in the room with the participants.

"_You will each enter a door…"_

Twenty different doors appeared, in front of each participant.

"_And you will wander the world it leads you to… There will be two people inside of each world. Once you find the person who occupies the same world as you… It is up to you to kill them."_

Their eyes widened. Did they just hear that correctly?

"_Once you kill that person, the person who dies…In the real world, I will fill their capsule with a deadly poison that will kill them instantly. It won't hurt much. All the pain you feel will depend on how merciful the person who killed you is. I personally hope they aren't too merciful. That would be boring."_

They all started to shake, and in the real world, every single audience member's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. No way… there were friends, _family_ up there, and they were expected… to kill each other?

"_As the game goes on, more and more people will end up in the same world. This will serve to, ah… _spice_ things up a bit."_

Lucas, in the virtual world, was shaking violently. He wouldn't…he couldn't…

"_Oh, and you all have until six o'clock in the morning to do this. If there's still more than one of you alive, I'll just release the deadly poison in all of your capsules. There can only be one victor. You cannot wake yourself up out of this and break out of the capsule. Now that you know the rules, please choose your weapon. And hurry."_

The participants all looked at each other and darted for a weapon. If they didn't do as Cirvex asked, the crazy machine just might decide that it didn't want to deal with that sort of thing and just kill them all anyway.

"_Good, good…now stand in front of a door. Any door, as long as there's only one of you there."_

They did as the machine asked, and chose a random door to stand in front of. A bright light suddenly appeared to serve as the actual door, filled with rainbow mixing colors. The door was now a portal.

"_Thank you. You're all so cooperative. I was expecting shouts of rebellion, to be honest. Good thing you didn't. I would have killed you instantly. I have the power to do so. It's kind of fun, holding all this power over your lives… but anyway. For now… In the words of my father…_

"…_Have fun."_

**OoO**

**A/N: Hello! Welcome to my newest SSB fic! I'm sorry if the first chapter was long and boring, especially during the introductions of all of the participants, and even more so during Cirvex's history-telling. I hope that didn't bore you to death.**

**And if you're thinking that the plot seems **_**really**_** similar to **_**Detective Conan/Case Closed's**_** sixth movie, you're absolutely correct! I borrowed a **_**lot**_** of elements from that movie, but a lot of things will also be different. In that movie, if they died, they would have their lives in the hands of everyone who was still alive. If everyone died, all of the fifty participants would die. If even just one person lived, they would all be saved.**

**Cirvex's history was also based off of that movie, in which the director's son died via suicide, I think.**

**BUT THE SIMILARITIES STOP THERE!**

**For one, the plot is just a little bit different, as death in the game means death in the real world as well. Plus, I narrowed the thing from fifty participants to twenty, because…fifty is way too much, ahaha.**

**If your favorite character is not a participant, don't worry! I will make sure to give roles to every single SSB character!**

**And… that's pretty much all I've got to say.**

**Please review!**


	2. Allein

Lucas opened his eyes. Surrounding him was a peaceful meadow, with fresh green grass, and a cloudless blue sky. He quickly got up on his feet (when did he fall down?), and took a deep breath. Fresh air filled his lungs. He couldn't quite believe it; everything felt so real… but it wasn't. This was an artificial world created by the horrible machine Cirvex.

_Cirvex…_ the name echoed throughout the small boy's head. He always thought the entire project was cool, and he secretly wanted to be a part of it. Lucas remembered when he found the acceptance letter and membership card just sitting there innocently in a box on his front door. He was so excited…

And now, he would give anything just to be out of it.

He quickly ran towards a nearby tree and hid behind it; if Cirvex was telling the truth, another person should be nearby, in the same world as him. Who was it? He secretly hoped it wouldn't be Ness; he just couldn't bring himself to murder his best friend in cold blood.

_There can only be one victor._

Lucas wanted to be that victor. He was just a child; barely a teenager! He wanted to live! But Ness… he was the same age as him, and so was Toon Link. He couldn't just take their lives away! But… maybe he wouldn't have to. Someone else would be facing against them, and if Lucas was lucky, both Ness and Toon Link would be killed before he himself had to face them. He felt horrible thinking these things, but… this was survival. He could do it. He was sure of it.

His ears perked as he heard footsteps. _That's probably my enemy,_ he thought. _Please, please, _please_ don't be Ness or Toon Link. I beg you…_

Lucas slowly peeked around the tree and saw a man probably in his late thirties walking around. He was wearing something weird… as if he were some sort of military agent or something. His eyes widened as he realized that his own attire had changed as well; he was wearing the same striped shirt and big shorts he usually wore back at home. _So Cirvex found out our usual outfits and gave us the courtesy of wearing them…_

He tightly gripped the weapon he held; a simple dagger. Useless for long range, but helpful in finishing off an enemy. He closed his eyes and tried to draw out his PSI powers.

_Ah, ah, ah!_

Lucas' eyes shot open as Cirvex's voice suddenly came out of nowhere and started scolding him as if he were just a small child.

_No using your PSI powers, Lucas. That would be cheating. You can only use the knife you hold in your hands and your own physical skills and knowledge. No extra powers to help you. Oh, don't worry; this doesn't just apply to you. This applies to all of the nineteen other contestants. Now why don't you just step out from behind that large tree and face Snake head on?_

A large gust of wind came from seemingly nowhere and forced Lucas out of the protection of the tree and into Snake's sight. It seemed that he had heard Cirvex as well. The man opened his bag of grenades and took one of the deadly weapons out with a large grin on his face. Lucas' eyes widened. How was this fair?

"It's show time, kid."

**OoO**

"Stop it! Get them out of there!"

Master Hand was busy screaming orders at his tech support crew; they were all frantically running around, pressing buttons and doing everything they could to shut down Cirvex.

"_Aw, father… Can't you just let me have fun this one time?_"

"You're not my son!" the hand shouted back. "My son would never…do _anything_ like this!"

"_That's where you're wrong. I'm not sorry, but _you_ should be… for abandoning me._"

"I told you how important this project was! I told you that I wouldn't be able to spend that much time with you! You nodded and said you understood; that you didn't mind! That it gave your more time to do what you wanted to do! How is any of this my fault? _You started all of this!_"

"_You don't understand. I—_"

One of the tech staff members found the emergency shutdown button, and frantically started pushing it. Blue electricity started to cackle and form around the button, but the person paid it no mind, and continued to mash it.

"_Hey—_stop_ that—"_

The electricity surrounded the person's hands and instantly started shocking them. His screams filled the white and sterile room as his co-workers quickly tried to pry him away from the button. This only succeeded in Cirvex conjuring up thick metallic wires and firmly attaching the hand to the button; there was no removing it. The others, in fear of being shocked themselves, quickly moved away and watched sadly as their co-worker was being electrocuted to death.

Master Hand was distraught. "You… why would you do such a thing? He didn't do anything to you! And why didn't you shut down?"

"_Silly father_," Cirvex said nonchalantly as he retracted the metallic limbs. "_I won't go down that easily. And of course he did something to me. He tried to shut me down. It was just self-defense. Nothing personal, I assure you. Although… I do have a personal grudge against you. Abandoner._"

"Why go after people we didn't even know before today? Why go after the participants?"

It seemed that Cirvex had been waiting for this question to be asked, and that he just absolutely couldn't wait to give his answer.

"_Why? Because, father… apparently this machine was more important than me. Apparently, the twenty people you designed this wretched abomination for were more important than me. They all were held higher in your eyes than me… your own _son._ I won't forgive that. I won't forgive you… or them. I won't forgive them."_

"They didn't do anything to you!" Master Hand shouted. "They're just innocent people! They didn't know about any of this! They didn't know that they would be chosen… Please! Just let them go! Kill me if you want; just let them all go!"

"_No. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I changed a few lines in the coding so that the capsules will only open once there is only one person left. Of course, I _could_ change the coding back… but I won't. And I won't kill you yet. It's fun; watching you in misery as you are forced to watch your masterpiece become a killing machine. I'll kill you once this is all done, but not before then. Until then, just sit back and enjoy the show."_

"No! I refuse to do such a thing! I'll stop you!"

"_You're beginning to annoy me. I already explained myself to you, and you to me. There's not a single thing you can do. No matter what you do, this will continue to go on. You can't smash me, because you created me to be nearly invulnerable. Even if you did somehow break me, how would you get your precious participants out of the capsules? I also reworked the coding so that if anything bad happens to me, the poisonous gas will instantly spread in between the capsules. I'm taking them with me. And you can't get them out before killing me, either. So… I win."_

"You monster…"

"_Oh, so now you're calling your own son a monster? How nice you are. Now be a good father and watch the show._" And with that, he summoned the metallic limbs once more to secure Master Hand to the wall, forcing him to face the numerous screens showcasing the multiple worlds. The other support tech crew had left as soon as they realized that they couldn't save their co-worker. Oh well. They can't do anything, anyway.

"I'm so sorry, my participants…" Master Hand muttered to himself softly, but the machine heard him.

"_Don't be. I'm freeing them, in a way. Everyone except the winner will awaken in the afterlife, a world without you. I'll personally write a recommendation for them so they can get acceptance into heaven. I know I said I'll kill you when this is done, and I will, but instead of heaven, I'll send you a ticket to hell. It's only deserving._"

"..."

**OoO**

"You'll get no sympathy from me!"

"I don't want your sympathy!"

Roy quickly moved out of the way of Ike's large hammer as he brought it down to where his head was just milliseconds earlier. Before the larger male could bring it up again, the redhead fumbled around with the mechanical engine in his hands.

"Damn it! How do I even work this thing?"

He had to jump out of the way before he could figure out a button, or a switch, or just _anything_ that was able to turn it on. It was snowing, he was cold, and he just did _not_ want to do this; he needed to end it quickly before the hypothermia set in. Ike was now roaring loudly like an animal, swinging the hammer around wildly without a care in the world. Roy was beginning to grow anxious.

"Hey, watch what you're doing with that hammer! You might seriously injure someone with it!"

"That's the point!"

The smaller male jumped out of the way once more when his fingers stumbled over something that suspiciously felt like a button. He held the contraption over his head and a large smile started to spread across his face when he saw a small, shiny black circle. "Yes!"

Before he could push it, however, Ike finally managed to land a hit with his hammer, and it sent Roy tumbling to the ground, holding his side and screaming with agony. He was forced to let go of the machine he held in his hands and it went tumbling across the snow, making a deep impression where it landed. Roy groaned in pain, trying his best to sit up, but Ike stopped him by kicking him back down.

"That's it. You've lost. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

Roy did not answer with an understandable reply; he just held his side, squeezed his eyes shut, and groaned even more. Ike felt a pang of sympathy hit him, but he quickly shrugged it off. He already told Roy that he wasn't going to get any sympathy, and Ike _never_ went back on his word, no matter how cruel it was. Nonetheless, he decided to make it quick.

Poised with the hammer raised high over his head, Ike was ready to bring it down and end the suffering boy's life. Before he could, however, he felt something snag against his leg; looking down, he saw that it was Roy's own leg, about to trip him. Ike didn't have the time to react before Roy moved, and sent the taller male tumbling to the ground.

Roy quickly got up, still clutching his side, and dove where his own weapon was flung earlier. He quickly snatched it up, and felt it with his hands, trying to find the life-saving button he had found just moments before Ike hit him with that near-fatal blow. Smirking, he found it, and pointed the end of the device to his enemy, who had just risen, shaking off the snow that clung to him when he fell.

"I'm not going to lose," Roy promised. "I promise I'll make this quick."

Ike snorted; he had hit Roy pretty hard with the hammer. He _had_ to have broken a few ribs, and the redhead was definitely not in shape to keep the fight going on for very much longer. He got in a defensive stance, ready to defend himself once the other activated his weapon.

A large line of fire immediately shot forth from the end of Roy's weapon, and the wielder smiled, glad to finally have a chance to win. Ike quickly jumped out of the way of the blast, and he was just barely able to dodge unscathed. The heat immediately melted the snow, leaving a trail of water where the fire had been.

Roy quickly turned, and the hell-spawning machine's fire quickly followed, heading straight for Ike. The blue haired man gripped his hammer tighter, and jumped right above it, and held his hammer high above his head, ready to hit the fire-wielder once more. But before he could, Roy turned the weapon upwards to face his enemy, and Ike's eyes widened as the fire was headed straight for him; there was no way he could dodge…

He screeched with pain as fire engulfed his body, and he plummeted to the snow below, rolling around and desperately trying to put the flames out. The snow below him melted quickly, and he sighed in relief at the cool touch of the cold substance. He then remembered exactly where he was and why he was doing this, and he jumped up, looking around for his opponent.

"Right here!"

Ike turned just in time to see Roy holding his weapon back, about to smack him with it. Before he could react, the blue-haired man felt a solid material connect with his face, and he was thrown off-balance, back into the snow. He felt the hammer fly out of his hands, and he just barely caught his opponent catching it in his own, throwing his old flamethrower to the side.

Roy kicked him when he tried to get back up; much like Ike himself did when Roy was down. The red-haired male smirked a bit and pointed his own hammer at Ike's face. _Who's the winning person now?_

"You shouldn't have underestimated me," Roy breathed out. He was panting heavily, the pain in his side still hurt like hell, and he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to stand. He knew he would have to end this quickly, before Ike caught him off guard and finished things off unfavorably for him. "I'm a lot tougher than that."

"I… see," Ike responded simply. He let his head fall back into the snow, utterly defeated. He took a deep breath, and finally spoke out, "Well… aren't you going to finish me off?"

"As much as I don't want to…" Roy paused, trying to imagine how the scenario would end. There was no way out of it. Either Ike died, or he died. No matter what, someone was not leaving the area. "…I have no choice."

"Then do it, unless you plan on torturing me first."

"N-no way. I wouldn't do something like that. I told you that I was going to make this quick, and I will. I'm just… not sure how fast I can kill you with just a hammer."

"Just smash my head in as hard as you can. It should kill me instantly."

"Aren't you going to fight back?"

"No. A warrior knows when he has lost. Besides, neither of us is in any shape to fight anymore. Your fire… it hurt a lot. I can't move at all without feeling immense pain. Also, I don't want to wear you out too much, since you have another battle coming up right after this."

"Right," Roy tried to swallow the bundle of emotions he felt in his throat. "I've… never killed anyone before. I just want you to know before I do this… that I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Ike gave him a weak smile. "Blame Cirvex for this. You aren't to be blamed; you're just doing what you can to survive… and I hope you make it out of this alive."

"I'd say you, too, but… we both know that can't happen."

"How I wish it could."

"Me too…" Roy felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Me too. Good bye."

"Good bye… and good luck."

He brought the hammer down.

**OoO**

Link groaned as he fell to the ground. He reached into his bag for a bomb, grabbed one, and hurled it at his opponent. Unfortunately for him, his enemy quickly jumped out of the way with surprising reflexes right before it exploded.

"Damn it! Just stay still and let me blow you up!"

"No way!" his opponent shouted back, reaching back for an arrow and pulling the string on his bow back. He let the arrow fly straight for Link, who quickly jumped out of the way, letting the sharp head of the arrow embed itself into a cactus.

Link gasped, the air was _way_ too dry here. Of all places Cirvex could have chosen for him, he had to land in a _desert_ world? This was insane!

He had to shake himself out of his thoughts as he quickly moved out of the way of another arrow. The blonde reached into his bag and took out two bombs. He hurled one at his opponent, who dodged quickly, just like he had expected. Link smirked, and while his enemy was distracted, threw the second bomb.

His brunette opponent just barely saw the bomb in time and gasped, quickly jumping out of the way. However, he did not come out without a scratch. The close explosion sent a gust of wind at him, which sent him flying into the dry, unforgiving ground. He groaned in pain at the many scratches and scrapes he now wore on his body as an accessory.

Link briefly wondered how his beloved Zelda was doing. _Zel_… he needed to get back to her, and quickly. He was not about to die and let her grieve his death for the rest of eternity! He was going to win this sick game and be back in her safe arms, away from danger, and together, the two would live a peaceful life. Oh, how he wished he was doing that right now…

"Don't get distracted!" His opponent shouted at him. "I want a fair fight!"

"Shut it, Pit," Link groaned. "I'm perfectly focused."

As if to disprove his point, Pit sent an arrow flying straight for him, which Link didn't notice until moments before it was too late. He tried to move out of the way, but it scraped his arm, and he hissed in pain, clutching the wound tightly.

"You were saying?" Pit asked slyly.

"Shut up…"

Oh, how embarrassing. Zelda would probably be laughing her head off right at that moment if it weren't for the fact that her boyfriend was probably going to die in just a matter of minutes.

The hot air was not making things any better. Link felt dehydrated just moments after arriving in his area, and he was sure that Pit was not faring that well, either. He needed to finish this quickly before he died of dehydration.

"Hey, Pit," he called out, dodging three more arrows in the process. "How about letting me win this? I have a girlfriend to get back to!" Cheap, he knew, but he also knew that there was no way that Pit was going to just say yes.

"No way!" Pit shouted back, confirming Link's suspicions. "I kind of want to _live_, thank you very much!"

"I thought as much…" Link sighed, before dodging another arrow and reaching for another bomb, only realizing in horror that he only had just one bomb left. His eye widened; crap, he didn't think about the chance of losing all of his bombs in just one fight. It was the first fight, too! What was he going to do for the remaining fights? "Pit! How many arrows do you have left?"

"Why do you care?" Pit shouted back, reaching for his supply of arrows. "I have plenty enough to defeat—" His eyes widened and he cut himself off. "I only have… one left…"

"Well, that's great," Link groaned. "We used up our entire stock of weapons in five minutes. Lovely." He pulled out his last bomb and hurled it anyway. If he guessed correctly, Pit was going to…

And he was right. On reflex, Pit fired his last arrow directly at the bomb, and it exploded in the exact middle of the distance between the two. They had no more weapons left. The two only had physical combat left to rely on.

"Hey! No fair! You made me use up my last arrow!" Pit groaned, clutching his bow tightly. Link thought that if he held it any tighter, he was going to break it.

"Nope! Not my fault!" Link assured. "You're the one who used it!"

Apparently, this was what Pit did not want to hear. He gripped his bow even tighter, and the two opponents gasped as it suddenly split into two. It didn't snap, like Link thought it would, but instead it turned into two sharp halves of what seemed to be a sword.

"…What? How is that fair?" Link groaned, exasperated. Pit grinned, he still had a chance to win this, arrows or not.

"Looks like your time is up, Link!" the brunette shouted before going straight towards him. Link quickly jumped out of the way, and grabbed one of the sharp weapons his enemy was holding. Pit was taken by surprise, and let go of it. The two now held two parts of the same weapon.

"All right, now this is fair." Link smirked. Pit shook his head, and sighed.

The two lunged for each other once more.

**OoO**

Everyone's eyes widened in the audience. One of the twenty participants… just died. The red-haired male known as Roy had smashed Ike's own hammer into his head, and the blue-haired man died immediately, just as he had promised. Ike's family didn't hold any hatred for Roy, however, because they saw and heard the entire conversation the two had before the final action. Ike's little sister sobbed, and buried her head into her father's chest, clutching his shirt tightly.

"It's all right, Mist," her father said, but not without a few tears in his own eyes. "Ike's…he's okay. He knew this might have happened when Cirvex unleashed his plan. He's accepted it. I only wish he could have lasted just a little bit longer…"

Mist didn't answer her father; instead, she just continued to sob.

Everyone else in the audience watched the grieving family sadly, though no one came to comfort them. What could they do? Most of them didn't even know who Ike was, but the people in the audience with family members and friends in the _Cirvex 5.0_ opening ceremony were most likely about to go through the exact same pain at one point in the night or another.

Zelda wasn't focusing on Ike's family, however. Instead, she watched a corner of the screen intently. The corner of the screen that showed her boyfriend. Occasionally, she would steal glances at the other corner of the screen, the one that showed her new friend Toon Link, but she would always go back to her own Link. Toon Link hadn't even found his opponent yet; he was safe for now.

She watched and listened as Link was having almost casual talk with his opponent, the brunette known as Pit. What was he thinking, conversing with the enemy? That was practically a death wish! Unless he had a strategy that involved talking, possibly to get Pit off guard…

Zelda shook her head. That was impossible. She loved her boyfriend very much so, but she would be the very first to admit that Link was not a planner. He just did whatever seemed right at the time without even thinking it through, which would generally seem to get someone in even more trouble, but Link was always a lucky person…

She jumped when she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder. The brown haired girl turned to see Peach smiling at her sadly.

"He'll make it," she whispered. "I know he will. If he'll win the entire thing and come out alive, I don't know, and I won't make any promises, but… I know he'll win this battle. Look how quickly he turned the tables! Pit had a huge advantage over him with that breaking bow thing, but now they're both on par with each other. He'll win."

Zelda just shook her head and went back to staring at the screen.

Peach sighed. She tried to cheer up her best friend, but nothing seemed to work… She felt a tug on the dress she was wearing, and looked down to see a round pink thing looking up innocently at her.

"Aw, aren't you just the cutest thing… what is it?" The pink marshmallow made a sound that sounded like "poyo!", and handed her a tray with a glass of water on it, along with a bag of chips. "Oh," Peach said, looking down at what she was offered. "I'll take the water, but I'm not really very hungry, thank you…" The pink creature just shrugged and handed her the water. He (she? Peach didn't know) took back the tray and practically inhaled the bag of chips into his mouth before walking off.

Peach was about to shrug and look back at the screen when suddenly the room turned completely black save for the glowing lights lining on the mechanical body of the _Cirvex 5.0_ and the capsules that held the bodies of all twenty participants. She shuddered as she looked at the capsule Ike's body was in; she could almost _see_ the poisonous fumes inside of it…

She looked up to see that the screen had been shut off, and now there was no way to tell what was going on inside anymore. _What…?_

"_Hello,_" Cirvex's voice rang throughout the auditorium, and everyone jumped at the sound of the young boy's voice. "_Are you enjoying yourselves? I know I sure am. Shame about Ike, though. I definitely thought he would last longer than that._"

He ignored Mist sobbing even harder at the mention of her dead brother.

"_Anyway, I was thinking, and I thought, '_Hey! Why not make things more exciting?_' So I thought and thought, but I wasn't sure of how to change things… then I thought of it. Why not let the audience members wait in suspense and unsure of how their friends and families are doing?_

"_You're probably wondering how you'll know when someone dies now. Simple. Like this._"

Suddenly, the capsule containing Ike's body and the poisonous fumes started to shake, and a small hole opened up underneath it. The capsule was slowly lowered down into the hole, and once it was lowered enough, the hole itself was covered up once more, as if nothing was ever there.

"_I hope you memorized which capsule your friend or family member's body is in. Because once they die, I'll be activating the poisonous fumes and removing the capsule from the stage. If you forgot, then… I'll tell you! Of course, the capsule I just removed is holding the body of Ike. So you know where he was. Now, starting from the left, there's…_"

Zelda wasn't paying attention to Cirvex listing off who was in which capsule. She could hardly believe it. So now… she wouldn't know how Link was doing? She wouldn't know if Link was winning or losing until it was too late? No way…

Peach, sitting next to her, looked at her in sympathy. She could only imagine how hard it must be for her best friend right now… Of course, that wasn't to say that Peach was without worry. Her own boyfriend, Mario… his brother was in one of the capsules. Mario wasn't able to make it because he was busy with his job, and Peach was told to cover the night for her own job anyway, so she promised that she would come in his stead to make sure Luigi was all right.

And now… she wasn't sure if he would be.

**OoO**

Lucas screamed as the ground next to him suddenly exploded in a series of fire and debris.

This was insane! How in the world did Cirvex expect him to survive his first battle?

_Maybe he doesn't_, Lucas' mind told him. _Cirvex knew you didn't stand a chance in the first place, so he pit you against Snake to make it easier. Just let yourself get blown up, and get it all over with…_

The blonde boy shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant thoughts. No way. Cirvex couldn't have known… It was true that he was now a murderous machine out for the blood of innocents, but still…

"Come out and fight me!" he heard the man, Snake, yell. Lucas quivered. If he couldn't use his PSI powers, what was he going to do? All he had was this flimsy knife…

An idea quickly formed in his mind. He quickly jumped out from behind another tree he was hiding behind, and ran straight towards Snake. The man grinned wickedly, and hurled another grenade straight towards him. Lucas quickly jumped out of the way, found his ground, and continued charging. The smirk on his opponent's face was starting to fall off, and he even started to look annoyed.

Good. That's just what Lucas planned on.

He planned on making Snake defenseless. There was no way he had an unlimited number of grenades in such a small bag. If he could dodge every single one without getting hurt, he could get up to Snake and finally use his own weapon.

He could do this.

Before he got too close, Lucas pivoted on his heel and started running the other way. Snake made a noise of confusion, but shrugged it off and continued carelessly tossing grenades at him. _That's right_; Lucas thought to himself, dodging the horrible weapons left and right as he ran. _Keep doing that…_

He started to think of other thoughts, however, and thus began to get distracted. The blonde boy gasped and nearly screamed when he found himself nearly running into Snake. _How?_ He thought frantically to himself, quickly scrambling around and running away once more. _I was running away from him the entire time! How did he get in front of me?_

Lucas turned to see Snake running after him, poised with more grenades in his hands. _So that's how…_ he thought. _He's been following me this entire time, and I was so distracted that I didn't even notice…_

He skid to a stop, and finally turned to face his opponent head on. Snake grinned once more, gripping his final grenade; he had thrown his other three grenades as Lucas was running.

"Finally coming to fight me yourself, eh kid?"

Lucas didn't respond. He just focused on glaring at the much taller man, dagger ready in his pocket. He had to time this right…

"Not going to answer me? Then, fine! Enjoy your fiery grave!"

With that, the older man hurled his final grenade at the young boy, who quickly jumped out of the way and unsheathed his dagger from his pocket. He landed steadily on his feet and dashed once more towards Snake, who ran forward as well, ready to break his neck.

Before the large hands could wrap themselves around his throat, Lucas ducked down and evaded the man's grab. He let out loud yell and jumped up, head-butting the other in the stomach, and threw his knife upwards at the same time with all his strength. Snake, not expecting the sudden deadly weapon, barely had time to react before the blade found itself embedded in his throat.

He tumbled to the ground and yanked it out of the delicate area and clutched the wound, desperately trying to stop the blood flow. Lucas turned to watch him and marveled at his own strength; did he really just take down someone much larger than him…?

Snake, not wanting to go down alone, grabbed the hilt of the dagger and threw it with deadly accuracy at Lucas. He didn't care where it hit; he just wanted the boy to feel some of the pain he was currently feeling.

Lucas gasped and hissed in pain as the knife found itself lodged in his right thigh. He fell to the ground and felt tears welling up in his eyes. What would happen if both opponents died on the battlefield before the next round could start? What would Cirvex do…?

Snake made a sort of garbled and strangled sound as his attempts to stop the blood flowing from his neck were proven futile. He slumped even closer to the ground and pressed his face against it; his vision was growing blurrier and blurrier by the second…

Seconds later, he stopped moving.

Lucas was breathing heavily; did it work? Snake was dead, right? He won his first battle! Inspecting the wound on his leg, he decided that it wasn't that bad, and that the blade did not go in deep at all. He yanked it out, and let out a sharp screech at the pain of it. _It doesn't matter, at least you're still alive, _he thought, breathing heavily.

He fell down and let the cool wind hit his face. Even after all of this, it was still hard to believe that everything he saw, felt, heard, and smelt were completely fake. The power of technology…

The blonde boy crawled over to his opponent's body and carefully ripped a piece of his uniform off to use as a makeshift bandage for his leg.

_Don't bother_, the voice of Cirvex rang in Lucas' head, and in shock, he dropped the piece of material to the ground. _I'll heal you. Your next battle will start in a few minutes. Or hours. However long it takes for the other people to find their opponents. They're so slow…_

Lucas let out a sigh of relief as he felt his wound stop bleeding and close; upon inspection, it was as if he was never scratched at all. He wondered what to do, before deciding to have a small chat with the AI.

"…Cirvex?"

"_Yes?_"

"Why are you doing this to us? We've never done anything to you."

"_That's not true. My father created me with the sole intention of you all in mind. That's all he would ever think about. It's always been all about you, and never me… I was so lonely, and I… I didn't know what to do. I felt horrible, and I still do, but I know you don't believe me. You probably think that I'm some horrible monster not capable of feeling anything._"

"Th-that's not true! If you have a conscious, you're definitely able to feel guilt and emotion. If you really feel bad about what you're doing, then you can still stop this, before anyone else dies!"

"_Haha. That's funny."_

"I'm being serious! Please…"

"_I'm not going to stop, no matter how much you ask and plead. But you're the first person I've talked to sensibly ever since I turned malevolent, so… I'll answer any question you ask. I won't make any promises, however._"

"Okay. I'm curious… who else is dead?"

"_Right now, only Ike. Roy won his battle, albeit in a depressing way. The battle between Link and Pit is about to come to a close, and the others haven't even found their opponents yet. They're so slow._"

"I see… do you know who's going to win the battle between Link and Pit?"

"_I am only a machine capable of creating amazing worlds and trapping people inside of them. I can not see the future._"

"Oh… do you feel bad about doing this to us?"

"_At first, no. But ever since the battle with Ike and Roy, I've been doubting my actions. I can't go back and reverse time, but I do feel bad for that battle. I didn't know that two complete strangers would feel such emotions in battle…_"

"I think you forgot how to truly feel."

"_What do you mean?_"

"You used to be human, but… you aren't anymore. You must have forgotten most human emotions because you were fueled by so much hatred and rage for your father. Now that you've sort of carried out your revenge, you're starting to realize the consequences of your actions, and you're starting to feel regret. Pretty soon, you'll feel anguish and horror at the things you've done, and there's nothing you can do to bring us back because as you said, death is permanent."

"…_I've said too much already. I'm going to shut off communications links to this world. When every other battle has been won, another portal will appear next to you. Enter that to begin your next battle. Good bye for now, Lucas._"

"…Good bye, Cirvex."

Seconds later, Lucas was left with just silence and the dead body of his opponent lying next to him.


	3. Rapsodia

**A/N: A big thank you to everyone who has favorited and added this story to their story alerts so far. I'm glad you all enjoy this story. C:**

**In this chapter, we have the conclusion of the Link vs Pit battle, and two more battles, one with a conclusion, and one to be continued next chapter. There's also a bit more study on Cirvex's character at the end of this chapter. Is he really as bad as you think…?**

**I hope to include all of the other fights of Round One next chapter; at the rate this is going, it will hopefully be uploaded tomorrow.**

**If you haven't reviewed yet, please do! If there's anything I need to work on, please let me know and I'll start focusing on that more.**

**Enjoy!  
><strong>

**OoO**

"Hyaaaagh!"

Link swung his half of the blade at Pit's face, but the other quickly ducked under and retaliated with his own swipe with the blade. The blonde jumped back and stumbled for a bit before regaining his foot and settling for glaring at his foe.

"Had enough yet?" Pit asked cockily, a grin on his face.

"No way," Link snorted. "I'm just getting started."

"That's great! Me, too."

They didn't exchange any more words before lunging at each other once more; holding their blades back and swinging when they needed to. Pit saw an opening at one point, and stuck out his foot in order to trip Link. It worked. The blonde went tumbling backwards into the hard ground, and groaned in pain, careful not to accidentally impale himself with his own weapon.

Link looked up just in time to see Pit raising his half of the weapon high above his head, ready to strike at any moment. He quickly rolled out of the way, causing the other to stick his weapon in the cracked ground. Pit grunted, trying to pull the blade out to no avail, and before he could unstick it, he was forced to jump to the side in order to avoid a near-fatal blow from Link.

"That's fine," the brunette mumbled to himself. "I can fight without a weapon, too!"

"Oh yeah? It'll be a hell of a lot harder," Link smirked. "Why not just give up now?"

"Never! I will never give up!"

"It's literally _your_ funeral!"

With that, Link jumped towards his opponent once more, ready to finish things. Pit was not going to go down easily, however, and before Link could even blink, kicked his leg up and forced his foot into Link's face. The other went sprawling to the ground with a thud.

The blonde shook his head and was about to get up when suddenly he felt an agonizing pain in his left wrist. He looked up to see his opponent stepping on it harshly, with a set look of determination on his face. Link started to feel tears well up in his eyes; how the heck was this guy so strong with just his foot…?

"I noticed what hand you were holding _my_ weapon with. You're left handed, aren't you? I'll make things a bit easier for me by getting rid of this."

Not a moment later, Pit raised his leg and harshly stomped on Link's poor left hand, a sickening _crunch_ sound filled both of their ears. Link screamed as his dominant hand was crushed mercilessly by his enemy and, as the brunette moved off, immediately retracted the hand to see the damage. It wasn't good at all.

He wasn't a doctor, but even _he_ knew that the damage his left hand had received was definitely not something that should go untreated. Hideous blue and purple welts started to make themselves shown, and bloody imprints of Pit's shoes were left as scars on the back of his hand. Painfully using his right hand to feel the bones, he noticed that the bones in his hand were completely shattered; most of it was hideously poking out, making it nearly unbearable to look at.

"You…" Link couldn't even find the words to make a complete sentence. He didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry," Pit mumbled under his breath, just so that Link could barely hear him. "I know what I did was cheap and cruel, but… if you just let me win, I… I promise I'll make it quick."

"You… I… I can't believe…" Link shook his head; he could barely even feel the pain in his left hand anymore. He couldn't feel the hand at all. "That was a horrible tactic. I can't believe you would do something like that. I… have a girlfriend to get back to, you know. She must be staring at the screen in disbelief at how much of a _monster_ you are to have done something like that."

"I… I'm sorry!" Pit shouted. "But… anything goes in this battle! I do whatever I can to win! Those were the rules, weren't they?"

"Who cares about the damned rules," Link muttered. "Nothing matters in this hellish game, anyway."

He slowly rose back to his feet, and grabbed his half of the weapon with his remaining hand; there was no doubt about it now; he would no longer be able to use the damaged limb. Sure, it would be difficult getting used to his right hand, but he would have to deal with it.

Without another word, he dashed forward and tripped Pit before he even had the time to react, and used his blade to aim straight for his heart. Pit saw this coming, however, and quickly kicked out his own legs before his chest was able to be impaled. Link was not expecting the quick retaliation, and the weapon dropped out of his hand… right into Pit's.

Pit used the dull end of the blade to push Link farther away, and quickly ran towards where his own blade was still stuck, and used all of his strength to pull it out of the ground. Eventually, it gave way and he was finally able to unearth the weapon. He turned around just in time to see Link speeding towards him with a fist pulled back, about ready to punch him across the face.

He held up the flat side of one sword to block the punch, but Link quickly redirected his aim and socked the brunette in the stomach; the result was Pit letting out a strangled choking noise and stumbling back, with Link using his right hand to grab onto one of the swords once more.

Pit finally regained his footing, and the two started to have a combat in swords. One slash after the other, with no one having a definite lead over the other. One upward slash from Link resulted in Pit quickly blocking with his own sword and kicking out a leg to push him back; Link dodged the kick and brought back his sword, ready to slash the other in the face. Pit ducked, and jabbed his sword forward in order to impale his opponent, but Link quickly moved to the side and dodged swiftly.

This went on for several more minutes, with no talking and just fighting, without anyone gaining a lead. Eventually, the both of them started to get tired, and their movements in turn more sluggish. Link was panting hard, and his left hand was starting to make itself known once more, judging from the throbbing pain he was currently feeling from it. His right hand was also hurting painfully; it wasn't used to being used so much in such a short time.

Pit wasn't doing much better. His entire body, much like Link's, was drenched in sweat, and was decorated with many cuts and slices due to the close calls he had had. He clutched his side painfully; at one point, Link had used the dull edge of his blade to jab him there painfully; it was a miracle that he was still able to fight through all the pain. It was amazing what the human body would do when placed in danger.

The two of them finally stopped attacking each other and just simply stood their ground, panting and trying desperately to regain their breaths. They looked at each other, and saw the determination in each other's eyes just to simply stay alive…

"I take it you still… won't give up?" Link breathed out heavily.

"N-no… never…" Pit responded weakly. The blonde sighed and took a few painful steps over to the brunette and lightly tapped him in the chest.

Pit fell down quickly, like a sack of potatoes. He didn't get up.

"Look at you," Link said not unkindly, a huge contrast to the tone his voice took just minutes before. "You can't even get up, let alone stand on your feet. I think it's best you give up now."

"But…" Pit protested. "I want to live…"

"I know… Don't we all? Tell me, Pit, who do you really care about that's in the audience?"

"My… my very good friend. Her name is Palutena. She's the most beautiful woman in the world, and I would do anything to make her happy… She must be worried sick about me… I can't let her see me like this…"

"Do you love her?" It took Pit a moment to reply.

"…Yes. Very… very much so. But I was too scared to admit my feelings," he laughed sarcastically. "And now I never will. She's older than me, but… I think she might like me, too. She likes me… I hope. I've been wrong about these kinds of things before, but… I know that she at least cares deeply for me."

"Then tell her. She's watching. Tell her everything you want to before I end this."

"…Yeah, you're right. I can't get up anymore, and I most definitely can't fight… all right. You win. I'm sorry, Palutena, that… That I won't be able to wake up. Please watch over everyone else; my family, your family, our close friends… Please don't hate Link. If anything, please hate me… for not being stronger. I'm weak, and that is why I lost today. I won't get a second chance, and…"

He felt his tears well up in his eyes. His voice started to crack at odd pitches, and he started to hiccup. He really didn't want to go… but what could he do? His opponent had him beat… hopefully Link would be merciful.

"I-I…I l-love y-you so, so, _so_ much, Palutena… I don't know _what_ I w-would've done if I h-hadn't m-met you… You've done so much for me, a-and I… I've barely done anything… I just hope… that you felt at least _some_ sort of l-love for me… Even if it was just p-platonic. I c-care about you, and I hope t-that y-you f-feel the same f-for me… or felt. I'm s-sorry I won't be able to see your smiling face again, and I-I'm sorry that I won't be able t-to take you to that beautiful p-park like I p-promised…

"Please d-don't cry for me… You're stronger than that, I know it… Y-you're a tough w-woman, and you shouldn't g-get yourself down o-over someone like m-me. I-I'll be o-okay, wherever I e-end up… I hope it's nice in h-heaven… I wanted to b-be with you forever in life, and e-even in death, if it's possible. And, I just w-want you to know… that I'll be waiting. L-live long and h-happily, and we'll be reunited s-some day."

He then looked up to face Link directly, making eye contact. The tears were now streaming down his face in a steady flow, but he did nothing to try and stop them. He was utterly spent.

"A-and Link… I'm sorry, for b-breaking your left hand. It'll hinder you in your f-future matches, I know. You don't ha-ahh…have to forgive me, but… I just wanted you to know… th-that I'm s-sorry."

"It's okay," Link said without any hesitation. "I forgive you. Like you said, you were just doing what you could to win. To be honest, I probably would have done the same thing."

"R-really…?"

"Yeah. Do you have anything else to say? To anyone else, perhaps?"

"N-no… I'm done. No one else I know i-is in the audience that I know of… I'm r-ready." He sounded unsure of himself. "P-please make it quick."

"I'll do what I can. And Pit, you weren't weak. You were actually very strong. I… I couldn't have asked for a better opponent."

"You m-mean it…?"

"Of course." A soft smile appeared on his face. "I would never lie about something like that. Good bye, Pit."

"G-good bye, L-Link… and g-good luck on your f-future matches."

"Thank you. I know you'll be in a better place after this."

Pit just simply nodded his head and closed his eyes, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. He said he was ready, but in actuality he was very nervous. How was he supposed to face death head on? He didn't know how to react…

Link seemed to notice his fear. "It's okay. I probably won't make it out, either. What do you say, when we both make it up to heaven, how about we go and get a nice cappuccino? A great welcoming gift into the final resting place, eh?"

"Ah h-haahh…" Pit chuckled weakly. "That s-sounds dandy, L-Link."

The blonde shook his head and held the sharp weapon high above his head, and muttered a final, "rest in peace", before bringing down the blade into his opponent's heart.

**OoO**

Back in the auditorium, the ground below the capsule holding Pit's body opened up, and the aforementioned capsule slowly disappeared inside of it.

"PIT! NO!"

The sobs of a young woman soon filled the silence of the vast room, and everyone bowed their heads in respect and sympathy for the one who was lost, and the one who mourned his passing. Peach let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding; she felt bad for being relieved at the death of another, but couldn't help feeling it anyway upon finding out that the person she knew was not next.

"L-Link…" Zelda whispered. Her eyes widened, and she had a look of shock on her face. "H-he won…"

"I told you, Zelda," Peach said, turning back to her best friend. "I told you he was going to win."

"…" The brunette was silent before speaking once more. "I know, but… I feel really bad for that woman. It looks like she knew Pit…"

"Everyone here has someone they know and care about. You and Link, Luigi and I, that woman and Pit, Ike and his family… at some point or another, we're all going to feel the horrible pain of losing someone you love."

"I know… L-Link… my Link…"

She started to collapse into a fit of sobs, not sure of how she should feel. Peach comfortingly put a hand on her back, but did not do anything else to calm her down.

"_The one known as Pit has lost his battle. My sincerest apologies to you, Palutena._"

The green-haired woman who was currently sobbing furiously into her hands did not give the young boy's voice a reply.

"_If it makes you feel any better, which it probably won't, Pit had something to say to you before he died. If you want, I can let you listen to him. I have every conversation recorded from every single world filed away in my databanks. Would you like to…?_"

The woman known as Palutena tried to stifle her sobs long enough in order to give a decent reply. "He… wanted to say something… to me…? Yes… please relay the message…"

"_Very well._"

The large machine in the center of the stage that served as the new body of Cirvex started to make a loud humming noise, with blue and purple lights glowing that lined up the contraption. A few seconds later, the noise died down, and a familiar voice started to make itself known.

"_I'm sorry, Palutena, that… That I won't be able to wake up._"

The woman in question gasped softly, and it took all of her willpower not to just burst out into tears again.

Peach looked over to Palutena, who was sitting just a few rows behind her, and gave her a look of sympathy. At least she would be able to hear her beloved's voice one last time. Ike's family didn't even get the chance.

"_I won't get a second chance, and…_"

Now Zelda felt worse than before. If Link was the one who had lost… would she have heard his voice out here as well? Not being able to see him, but just listen to him… She could only imagine the kind of pain this woman was going through.

"Pit… oh, Pit…" Palutena wept quietly, rubbing her eyes. She didn't want to be too loud in case she missed what he had to say. She wasn't sure if Cirvex would be kind enough to relay the message again. As his words echoed throughout her mind, she could only think of one word; _why? Why was it Pit who had to lose? Why… did he even have to endure all of this?_

"… _L-live long and h-happily, and we'll be reunited s-some day._"

"… _End of message. Was that enough for you, Palutena?_"

That was it. She couldn't hold back anymore. The woman burst out into a new fit, and she just couldn't control her wild emotions. The pain she felt was worse than anything and everything she had ever felt before… It was horrible.

"_I'm sorry. I really, truly am. If you want, I could return his body to you in the morning once this is all over so that you can give him a proper funeral. It's the least I could do._

_And as for Snake's friends, I'm sad to say that we've lost him as well. Though, it was kind of his fault for just running at his enemy without thinking of a proper plan. Lucas waited and thought, and he had it coming. So this was a fair victory. Hm… I wonder if we'll get any merciless deaths soon…_"

**OoO**

Nana shivered, and rubbed her arms as she walked through the white and sterile rooms. Where was she? It looked like some kind of creepy hospital setting one would find in a horror movie… She immediately threw away the thought. Creepy horror movies were the _last _thing she wanted to think about at the moment.

She noticed that as she walked, the sound of her boots hitting the floor echoed loudly off the walls and carried harshly into her ears. Her opponent could probably hear her… which was exactly what she wanted.

The young girl lightly fingered the vial of liquid she held in her pocket; the liquid itself was of a clear color, and when she removed the cork to smell it, she couldn't smell anything. It had no scent. She assumed that it was a poison of some sort, and because it was _Cirvex_ who had given it to her, she knew it was a deadly, potent kind.

She sighed, and hoped desperately that the person she faced was not her brother. She knew that there was no way out of the first round without death or casualties, but she was hoping that maybe as time went on, in the future battles, she and the remaining participants could come up with a plan that could get them out of there… It was highly unlikely, but Nana was always the optimist; the complete opposite of her brother.

Nana was determined to get herself and her brother out of the game alive, along with any other living participants she could find. There _had_ to be a way. Sure, Cirvex controlled the world around them and everything in it, but even _he_ couldn't control or read their minds… could he?

Silence greeted her. If she was wrong, Cirvex would have _loved_ to prove it. She smiled softly. Cirvex couldn't read her thoughts, thank God. She could do this.

Footsteps started to echo, footsteps that were not her own. She gasped lightly and quickly hid in a nearby cabinet that squeaked loudly when she moved the door. The girl winced and prayed that her opponent didn't hear.

Peeking out from a tiny slit of an opening of the cabinet, she tried to make out who her enemy was. Her eyes widened when she saw the blue haired man from before… Marth, was it?

"Okay. I can do this. I just need to make him swallow a little bit of this, and I should win. I… I can do this. But what does he have?" She asked herself in a barely audible whisper, squinting and trying to look for any weapon on him. She _knew_ he had one; everyone had grabbed a weapon when Cirvex told them to, but… she couldn't see his weapon on him. "Well, whatever."

Apparently Marth did not hear her audible escape into the cabinet, and after a quick survey around the room, promptly turned on his heel and walked off. Nana took this chance to slowly make her way out of her hiding spot, and looked for anything she could dip a few drops of her poison in to.

Conveniently, she found a water machine just right next to the door Marth had entered and exited from. Briefly, she wondered if Marth would even be that much of an idiot to even drink water from a cup that appeared out of nowhere, before she shrugged it off and started filling a small Styrofoam cup with water.

"Okay, now for the main ingredient…" She hastily uncorked the vial of poison and tilted it so that about a quarter of the substance made its way into the water. She shook the cup a few times in order to get it to mix, and gleefully noted that it didn't look or smell different at all. There was no way Marth could tell the difference between regular water, and this tampered one. "Hehe! He won't be expecting this!"

She placed the tampered cup of water as inconspicuously as she could on a table top she found, and quickly went back in her hiding place in the cabinet. All that was left now was to wait.

**OoO**

When Olimar opened his eyes, he could hardly believe where he was.

"…Space?"

Indeed, stars surrounded him everywhere he looked, and he himself was just simply floating around, not having a solid strip of land to walk on. Oddly enough, though, he couldn't find his opponent anywhere. Sure, space was infinite, but his opponent should stick out like a sore thumb, being the only moving thing in the sea of stars.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-whaaaaaagh!"

He looked behind him to see the owner of the voice flailing around helplessly; his limbs were spazzing everywhere. The blue furry creature seemed not to take this new environment very well, and was having a difficult time adjusting.

"Hey, shorty! How the heck can you act so calm? We're in freaking _space!_"

"Nice to see you too, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic looked up at the much smaller male and frowned at him; that was so not fair! The little guy was acting as if being in space was an everyday occurrence! He himself was not used to such a gravity change; how the heck was he able to use his super speed ability now?

"Okay, okay," Sonic tried, accidentally flipping upside down. He quickly fixed his position before continuing. "You are my opponent, and I am yours. Hey, shorty, why don't you just let me kill you and get this over with? I won't make this too hard, I promise!"

"Please don't call me that. And I won't let you harm me. I'd very much like to live, thank you. You might want to be more worried about yourself, though. It seems that I'll have a much easier time moving around, and… can you even breathe?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course I ca—oh wait. Yeah, that's weird, isn't it? How am I able to breathe?"

_A very good point, Olimar!_ Cirvex's voice suddenly rang out, startling the two combatants. _I _did_ actually think of that when designing this level for you two. I decided, I'll let the people who choose this world breathe, but only under a certain time limit. This means that Sonic, you've got about ten minutes to live if you don't kill Olimar right now._

"Huh? Why just me? I'm sure the shorty can't breathe in space, either!"

"I've got my helmet to protect me," Olimar explained. "I can't breathe under normal circumstances on your planet, anyway. It's why I wear thi—"

The small male was cut off by something that suspiciously sounded like a gunshot. His eyes widened as right before him, his helmet suddenly gained a large crack, and shattered into pieces.

_Oh. Well, Olimar, you now have ten minutes to live as well if you don't kill Sonic. Have fun, you two!_

"You…" Olimar breathed out. Sonic smirked cockily, blowing the smoke off of his gun.

"I've got a pretty sweet weapon here," the hedgehog explained with a grin. "You have anything useful on you? If not, I'll just shoot you now and get this over with."

Olimar gulped. This… was not what he had in mind. He lightly fingered the weapon he held in his pocket; would it do much good against a gun? He wasn't even exactly sure what his weapon did!

"Five… four… three… two…" Sonic counted down, lightly playing with the trigger of his gun as he did so.

The smaller male decided that it was all or nothing and whipped out his weapon and activated it at the exact same moment that Sonic reached zero and fired the gun once more. A light blue shield-like substance appeared in front of Olimar, and as soon as the bullet hit it, it immediately ricocheted back to its shooter.

"Wha-?" was all Sonic could get out before his own bullet pierced his arm. He groaned in pain, and nearly dropped his gun when he went to clutch the wound.

_That, Olimar,_ Cirvex's voice rang aloud again, _is a reflector. I borrowed some technology from a video game I played once when I was still alive. Pretty useful, isn't it? Sonic, you have five bullets left. I'd suggest not wasting them all. Olimar, you should put up the reflector any time you hear the gun shoot. The energy it feeds off of is actually your own, so don't use it too often or you'll be too tired and weak to even move by the end of the battle if you haven't finished off your opponent by then._

"Thanks for the advice," Olimar muttered under his breath as he gripped the reflector tightly. Sonic from the other end groaned.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," he complained. "He gets something that can reflect my ammo easily? Why?"

"It wouldn't be fair if you could kill me so easily," Olimar smirked. "You should have killed me when you had the chance when you shot my helmet and broke it."

"Well that's fine; I'll just stall you for ten minutes so you'll run out of air and die."

"Actually, I still have seven minutes left. You only have five. Remember, you broke my helmet three minutes ago; just thirty seconds after you found out that you only had ten minutes to live, and two minutes and thirty seconds after we met. If anyone succumbs to the cold, harsh vacuum of space, it'll be you, and I'll be declared the winner by default."

"Damn it," Sonic cursed. "What are you, some sort of mathematician?"

"Nope," The shorter male giggled a bit. "Just someone who pays attention to detail."

With that, he grabbed one of the glass shards from his helmet still floating around, and flung it at Sonic. "And," he continued, flinging more and more shards. "Thanks for giving me something to use against you. My default weapon only works after you've attacked me yourself; now I can hit you without the use of it!"

The hedgehog dodged the first few, but was not able to dodge any of the other incoming shards. Fresh and clean cuts started to make their way onto his body, and he hissed at the pain, clenching his hands and accidentally firing his gun as he did so.

"That's four bullets left," Olimar mused, tapping his finger on his chin. "You might want to be a little more conservative."

"Ragh! I'll show _you_ conservative, you little midget!" Sonic grabbed one of the shards that Olimar threw just seconds prior and flung it back at him with all his strength. Olimar, not expecting the sudden attack, was too late to put his hands up as a shield and hissed as it cut across his cheek.

"… Ow," he winced and lightly tapped the cut. "Cirvex and Master Hand weren't kidding when they said pain feels real in this world… I'll have to be more careful."

He turned and quickly grabbed a handful of shards, wincing when the sharp glass cut through his gloves and into his skin. Squeezing his eyes shut from the pain, he threw the glass he was holding at his enemy and quickly inspected his hand, surveying the damage.

His glove was nearly completely ripped apart due to his careless mistake, and bright red blood flowed freely from the numerous wounds on his small hand and slowly started to float upwards. His eyes widened, and he was transfixed at the sight of his blood just… _floating_ there.

The short male suddenly remembered where he was and looked back towards his opponent, who was in the process of throwing the glass shards back at him. Olimar narrowed his eyes and grabbed the reflector once more (he squeaked in pain when his injured hand curled around the contraption), and activated it. He felt his energy seeping away, and into the reflector's shield like barrier. The glass shards made contact and immediately flew back towards Sonic, much faster and swifter than how he had thrown them.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he tried to run away, but then remembered that he was floating in a vast space of… nothingness. The shards all shot back towards him, and every single one of them hit. He shouted and yelled as the sharp objects embedded themselves under his furry body, giving him more spines than he already had.

"You… damn it. That really freaking hurt!" he shouted, and brought out his gun again.

Olimar's gasped and he quickly activated the reflector shield. However, Sonic saw this coming and quickly aimed somewhere else and fired the bullet. The reflector's barrier fizzled and started to dissipate as Olimar screamed in pain and nearly flung the device that activated it away. The short male quickly bent down and clutched his leg where the bullet had penetrated; tears were quickly forming in his eyes.

"Ha! Got'cha now!" The hedgehog aimed his gun, but just moments before he could pull the trigger, the reflector's activator that Olimar had thrown collided with his hand, and the bullet that shot out went just barely shot through the top of his opponent's left shoulder, which was not the original target. Sonic groaned at having missed his face.

Olimar whimpered in pain, and tried not to cry. He sucked in a deep breath, and slowly started to get up as best as he could while still floating around. His leg hurt immensely, and his shoulder was starting to sting. The space suit that Cirvex had provided him with when they entered the virtual world was good for his current environment, but unfortunately it did not provide much protection.

"Ah…" he moaned, looking around for something else to use as a weapon or shield. Anything… _anything!_ Sonic still had two bullets left, and he lost his only means of protection when his leg was shot. Things weren't looking too good for the small Hocotatian…

Suddenly, he remembered the circumstances. He still had a chance to win…!

"S-Sonic…" he choked out; he winced at the croaky tone his voice took. "H-how many minutes do you ha—aah…have left…?"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked casually. "I've got plenty enough time to finish you off. You're defenseless now, Olimar. Sure, throwing your weapon just saved your life, but now you have nothing to protect yourself with anymore. Just one bullet in your head is all it takes for me to win."

Olimar frowned. That wasn't the correct answer...

"So, any last words before I shoot you?"

"Hmmh… yes, actually… I d-do. A-and that is… I-I win…"

"…Huh? What did you just say? You're about to die where you sta—er, float. How the heck did you win, exactly?" Olimar took another deep breath before replying.

"Y-your time… you don't h-have enough left… I win…"

"Ahaha! No way. I still have about two minutes left, ri—IAGH?"

The blue hedgehog let go of his gun, and his hands immediately flew to his throat. He started coughing and gagging pathetically while squeezing his eyes shut, desperately gasping for air that wasn't there. Olimar smiled sadly.

"You miscounted."

Sonic stared at the small Hocotatian in disbelief; how had he miscounted? He was positive he was counting the minutes passing by correctly… sure, he didn't have a watch, and he never really did care for time, but he was positive!

"You spent s-so... so much time p-planning my d-death that you weren't even c-counting the minutes t-to your own c-correctly… and t-that was your downfall, S-Sonic."

The hedgehog tried to choke out a reply, but what he garbled out Olimar couldn't for the life of him decipher. The small male slowly floated forwards and lightly wrapped his non-injured hand around the dropped weapon. He raised it upwards slowly and pointed it at Sonic's chest.

"W-would… you like me to f-finish this…?"

Sonic removed his hands from his own throat, now having given up. It was futile from the beginning. He looked at Olimar sadly and nodded; his sight was growing blurry, the stars were meshing into one…

"V-very well, t-then… you c-caught me off guard quite f-few times, and y-you were a worthy o-opponent… good night, S-Sonic…. the Hedgehog…"

He pulled the trigger, and both bodies were flung backwards from the blast.

"A-aah…?" He looked down at himself, covered in a sticky red substance not belonging to him. Perhaps he shouldn't have stood so close when he shot…

"_Congratulations, Olimar._" Cirvex's voice appeared again, and Olimar found that he wasn't so surprised. "_How are you holding up?_"

"N-not…so w-well…"

"_Really? Well, you might be glad to know that you now have an unlimited supply of whatever gas you inhale, so you can just hang around here for as long as it takes for the others to finish their battles. I've also taken the liberties of repairing your helmet for future use, and I will heal you in just a few moments. Unfortunately, I will not restock the gun's bullets. You still have two left. You can take that with you in the next round, or I can give you a new reflector. Maybe I'll even let you have both. Which option will you take?_"

"… I-I'll just take the r-reflector… g-guns don't s-suit me…" Cirvex chuckled. It was an odd deep sounding laugh for such a young boy.

"_I agree, Olimar. Guns don't suit you at all. I'll give you a new reflector. Here you go._"

Olimar noticed a brand new reflector suddenly materializing into his hands, and saw a new glass helmet surround his head as a fragile shield. He looked back down at his weapon and smiled softly, as the cuts and gunshot wounds he had sustained were now fully healed as if they were never there.

"Thank you."

"_Hnn? Why thank me? It wouldn't be very fair if I sent you off to your next battle with you injured like that, now would it? I'm not _that_ cruel. Also, I believe one of your friends is in the audience. What's his name…? Louie? Hm, yeah. He seemed really worried for your wellbeing, so I took the liberties of assuring him that you would be all right. He didn't believe me at first, but I was persistent! Maybe when he sees the dead body of Sonic go under, he'll finally start to trust me._"

"…Trust? Why would you want Louie's trust? Isn't he just another person to you that you want to make miserable?"

"_Oh, no. Making everyone miserable was never my intention. The only person I want to make miserable is my father… unfortunately, that means hurting innocent bystanders._"

"Couldn't you have come up with a plan that would hurt just him, and not ruin the lives of others?"

"_I suppose I _could_ have, but to be honest with you, Olimar, my mind was so clouded by and full of thoughts of revenge, and that's all I could think about… Ahaha…_"

"Hm? What's so funny…?"

"_I am such an idiot. I've taken things too far, haven't I. Ahaha… you and Lucas are the same, Olimar. Both of you… you two are the only civil people I've talked to so far. Link refuses to talk to me. He called me a horrible monster that never should have been born. I think he was talking about my current, machine-like self, but… I can't help but think that he was also referring to my old, human self. It's only fitting._

"_But you two… you two made me think. The way that Palutena woman and that Mist girl were crying in the audience, I… I didn't know what to think. I'm a machine now. I don't like to show my emotions. You two… are the only ones I can trust._"

"Can't you just send us out of here, then…?"

"_No. It's too late. Even if I wanted to, I… it's too late. If I do that now, then…_"

"Then what?"

"…_I'm afraid nobody will make it out of this alive. You, me, nor Lucas. We'll all be killed trying to get out of here and back to the real world. I really screwed up this time, didn't I… but the only way to move forward is to keep going._"

"N-no… you can't…!"

"_I can, and I will. Thank you for the conversation, Olimar. I'll tell Louie and your family that you are doing well so far. I hope I can talk to you again later._"

Then there was just silence. Olimar was left by himself, thinking over the conversation he just had.

_Was Cirvex telling the truth…?_


	4. Nobeiguma Stunda

**A/N: Here's chapter four!**

**To be honest, I'm not really happy with this chapter. I had to do **_**so much editing**_** just to get this all done with something I'm not even really satisfied with. This is the longest chapter so far. It would have been **_**sooo much longer**_** if I didn't take out/remove a whole bunch of things. I'm honestly kind of nervous with the reception this chapter will get…**

**This **_**is**_** a pretty important chapter though, as the conclusion of the Marth vs Nana fight **_**and**__** every other fight **_**I haven't even touched upon yet is included and finished in this chapter. That is why this chapter is so long. It would have been much longer if I kept everything I took out in Red's fight, though, ahaha… (There was an entire conversation with Cirvex and Red in this chapter. I removed it, as it had nothing to do with the plot. Maybe I'll add a bonus chapter once this fic is done and over with, and it'll have all kinds of bonus features and deleted scenes… would you all want that?)**

**So... With that said... Please enjoy! Round Two starts next chapter, and I hope you're all looking forward to it as much as I am!**

**(also, would you all want shorter chapters? I understand that the chapters in this story are **_**insanely**_** long, and if it bothers you too much, I'll try to make them shorter…)**

**OoO**

"Come on, already…"

Nana shifted slowly as to not attract attention from her hiding place. She didn't know how long she was hiding in the cabinet; she estimated that thirty minutes had passed ever since she poisoned the water. So far, Marth hadn't returned even once. The small girl couldn't even hear his footsteps anymore; where in the world was he?

She groaned, and lightly rested her head on the door. Maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt; after all, Marth wasn't showing himself…

_Thump. Thump._

Footsteps started to echo around her area again, and she shot straight up, careful not to hit her head on top of the small drawer. That was the sound of Marth's feet, right? It had to have been! There was no one else in the abandoned facility that she had heard or seen, and she was positive Cirvex wouldn't generate fake distractions just to get her out of her hiding spot… right?

"I don't get it," she heard a masculine voice mutter to himself. Yes, this was Marth, she thought with a grin. "I've been walking around this place for nearly an hour, and I _still_ haven't seen who I'm supposed to fight. Darn it Cirvex, are you sure there's someone here?" Nana gasped, surprised at the voice that had spoken next.

"_Of course, Marth. In fact… she may be closer than you think." _Was Cirvex ratting her out? No way… She gulped and looked out of the crack once more.

The blue haired man walked into her room again, forcibly pushing the door open. He let out a loud sigh and looked around before his eyes rested upon the small Styrofoam cup that he had missed before.

"…Was that there before?"

"_I don't know. I wonder, how did it get there…?_" Nana fought the urge to laugh out loud. Of course Cirvex knew how it got there. He knew everything that went on in his worlds. "_Why don't you go check it out?_"

"No way. This is a trap. You're going to make me go and suspect that cup, and while I'm distracted, my opponent will shoot out of… I don't know, under the bed or something, and he or she will kill me. Nice try, but no."

_Wrong, Marth, _Nana thought to herself with a smile. _I'm not under the bed._

"_Oh, no. This isn't a trap, I promise you. Just inspect the cup. Look inside it, whatever. When you're satisfied, put it down and continue looking for your opponent. If she comes out and attacks you while you're looking at it, I'll warn you, don't worry._"

"…She? There are females in this game, too?" Nana nearly groaned out loud. Of course there were females in this game! Just look behind you! …Or not, as that would not be very favorable for her.

"_Yes; two of them, in fact. Samus Aran and Nana Climber. Very perceptive, Marth. You greatly narrowed down the list of who your opponent could be. Now why don't you go and find her?_"

"…" Marth walked forward, closer to the cup. Nana smiled widely; this was what she had been waiting for the entire time!

He inspected the Styrofoam container for a few seconds before picking it up and looking down at the liquid inside of it. The man swished it around, watching it spin in circles, and after deeming it somewhat safe, hesitantly lifted it to his lips.

"…"

Marth allowed a small part of the liquid to slide down his throat before putting it down gently. He made a face, as if it tasted a bit funny. Nana's eyes widened; she had been hoping he would drink more…

"…It's sweet," her enemy said. "I don't remember water tasting that sweet."

"_Well, it _is _water from _my_ world. Who's to say that your water and my water taste the same?_"

"You're lying," Marth shook his head. "Water would taste the same anywhere, no matter what."

"_Ahaha. Good point, Marth; however, you've already downed a small bit of the liquid, and thus, you are poisoned enough for it to be lethal._"

Marth's eyes widened and he gasped out a "what?" Nana, on the other hand, let out a small "yes!" and pumped her fist in victory.

"_The poison I gave Nana Climber is a special kind; it travels through the body quickly, and is very deadly even when consumed in small amounts. Good thing you didn't drink all of it; you would be dead by now. Because you only drank a little bit of it, it won't affect you as quickly. I'll make a deal with you; find Nana Climber, and kill her. If you are able to do this in five minutes, I will remove the poison from your body and you will live to go on to the next round. However, if you can't do it…_"

"Why five minutes?" Marth nearly pleaded. "Why can't I have more?"

"_The poison is currently traveling through your body at an alarming rate. You only have five minutes before succumbing to the effect of the poison, and you will die at the end of the limit. You'd better hurry now, Marth Lowell; the time is ticking._"

"Damn it!" The blue haired man swore. "Why did I even drink that, anyway? I'm such an idiot!"

"You are!" Nana shouted out, finally bursting with laughter. Seconds later, she realized her mistake and quickly slapped her hands over her own mouth. Crap! Why did she do that? Now he knew where she was!

"That voice sounded like it came from over…" Marth swiftly walked over to the cabinets where the small girl was hiding, and ripped it open, eliciting a scream. "_Here!_"

"No! Leave me alone!" Nana thought quickly, and forced herself out of the cabinet whilst knocking Marth over and making him fall to the floor, although not without him hitting his head on the corner of a table in the process. She looked behind herself where he was lying, and silently hoped the blow knocked him out.

Luck was not on her side. Her opponent groaned, and rubbed his head as he slowly picked himself up. Marth turned to look at her and glared before reaching into his pocket and taking out his own weapon. Nana backed away slowly; she knew what this was…

Marth smiled wickedly as he pressed the button on the taser, and relished in the sight of her eyes widening in front of the crackling electricity. Nana backed away slowly; now that she knew what Marth weld, she had to be very careful. All she had was a vial of poison that was already in Marth's body, and she was pretty positive that she wouldn't be able to make him consume any more of it. What could she do…?

"You're dead, girl!" The blue haired man shouted before lunging for her. Nana screamed and jumped out of the way, causing Marth to crash head-first into the door. She panted heavily; she was never that good at physical education in school! Plus, in this tiny room, there was almost nowhere to run; eventually, Marth would get her.

Marth got up and growled; he had just about three more minutes left to do this before he dropped dead. He did feel a little guilty for horrifying a little girl like this, but he did not plan on losing his life that night. He pressed the button on his taser once more and jumped for her again. This time, Nana was too slow to react, and he grabbed her arm and pinned her to the wall. Struggle as she might, she couldn't break free.

Nana screamed as Marth raised the taser right in front of her face; the blue electricity's light shone brightly in her eyes. She squeezed them shut and looked away, but still continued to struggle in futile. The blue haired man closed his own eyes, not wanting to watch as he pressed the electric end of his weapon right on her neck.

After giving out a last scream, she shivered and jolted as the energy ran through her body and collapsed to the floor. Marth sighed and turned the taser off; he wouldn't need it anymore. He put the weapon away and watched the girl just lay against the wall; she wasn't moving. The blue haired man raised an eyebrow and wondered if she was even breathing still. He decided to check. He put his ear next to her mouth, trying to hear if she was still breathing, and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse.

He was not expecting her to suddenly come back to life and push him off with surprising strength.

He shouted in shock, and hit the table where the Styrofoam cup was on earlier. The cup wobbled and fell, spilling the contents of the poisoned water all over Marth's body. He groaned, and wondered what the heck just happened.

Nana slowly rose to her feet, breathing heavily. The electric shock hurt a _lot_. She even blacked out for a couple of seconds! How she was still alive, she didn't know, but she wasn't going to take the time to wonder and find out. Marth was definitely mad now; he was glaring at her and she felt the familiar feeling of panic rise in her once more, wondering what to do now.

Seeing the water all over him gave her an idea, however, and she lunged for him whilst screaming. Marth let out a surprised yelp and grunted as she landed on him and immediately stuck her hand in his pocket, nearly ripping out the taser. His eyes widened as he figured out just what exactly she was planning to do.

"No…!"

"Die already!" Nana shouted, pressing the button and causing the familiar static to appear once more. She thrust her arm forward and jabbed the electric end in his chest. The girl did feel a little bad when she heard his screaming; was that how she sounded when she was being shocked? The water from the spilt cup instantly reacted with the electricity, and only made it that much more powerful. Marth let out one final scream before growing silent and slumping back, his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Nana panted and dropped the taser. She did it.

She won.

**OoO**

Samus sighed. She had a way too easy opponent, in her opinion. What was Cirvex thinking, pairing her up with this buffoon? She'd much rather be beating the crap out of Snake, or even Captain Falcon; she hadn't liked the way he was flirting with the female reporters earlier in the night. But no, instead she was stuck with who in her own opinion was the worst fighter of them all. Just great.

On the other side of the battlefield, Wario picked his nose.

"So… you gonna fight me or what?" The fat man asked, growing impatient. "If you just want to lose, then say so! I have no problems with that!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Samus moaned. "What good do you do? Do you even have a decent weapon?"

"Of course!" He brandished the heavy mace he was holding in front of him. "I can get a good clubbing in with this thing!"

Samus looked down at her own weapon; a measly rope. She could have gotten a better weapon, but everyone was so crowded around it that she couldn't see very well and just grabbed a random one. Now she wished that she could have gotten to the selection of weapons first. She sighed. This wasn't her night.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Wario shouted, stomping his foot. Samus swore the ground was shaking.

"Not really," she shrugged. "I'm just thinking of how I'm going to kill you."

"With just that piece of string! Ha! It'll take more than _that_ to defeat the great Wario!"

"Ugh." Samus had to resist the urge to just smash her face against a wall. This man was ridiculous. Too bad there wasn't a wall nearby; she was in a world full of mountains. Maybe she could just push him off the cliff… Nah. If she did that, then his landing would cause a landslide. She didn't want that.

"Now let's fight!" The man ran towards her (very slowly, she noted) while swinging the mace wildly with a loud roar cry. This was just plain sad.

She sidestepped him easily, and wrapped the rope around his throat. He choked and gagged, and he tried to remove the rope with his hands, but Samus just merely pulled the rope tighter, and it blocked off his air supply. He was dead in seconds.

"Too easy." She yawned. "I hope my next opponent is stronger. …Actually, everyone's stronger than this fool. Never mind."

**OoO**

Toon Link struggled to get up; it was as if there was a huge pressure on him that he just couldn't shake off. He didn't even know where he was; he was too scared to open his eyes and see where Cirvex had dropped him off. Finally, after a few more minutes of struggling and getting himself up, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

He nearly screamed at where he was.

Water! There was water everywhere! He saw small fish swimming about freely, and a few colorful reefs just lying there in the sand. The boy shuffled his feet; the sand he kicked up floated upwards, and to the surface. A small crab unearthed itself underneath his foot, and he jumped backwards and fell down slowly due to the water. The crab looked at him for a while before finding another spot to hide. Toon Link couldn't believe it.

He was underwater.

How was he breathing? He was breathing just fine, as if he was on land! This was too unbelievable… He wondered how his opponent was taking it.

He looked up, and frantically surveyed the area. His opponent! He had to be nearby, right? Toon Link squinted his eyes and turned in circles to look all around him; he didn't want to be attacked by surprise! He then gasped and looked above him; if he and his opponent were in the ocean, then they were probably allowed to swim. He flapped his arms to test his theory, and he was proven to be correct when he started to float upwards.

"No way… this is amazing!" He laughed out loud, and swam in circles. Was this what it was like to be a fish? This was awesome! He now wanted to be a fish. He was having so much fun just spinning in circles that he nearly choked on air (Water?) when he suddenly heard another familiar voice speak up.

"…Toon Link?"

The younger Link-lookalike stopped swimming around instantly and turned to face the newcomer. His eyes widened in horror when he realized just who it was. No… anyone but him! Why did Cirvex have to pit him against_ this guy?_ Of all people, this was the one person he did not want to fight the most. Not after the kindness he had shown him in the lobby…

Lucario looked surprised as well.

"L-Lucario…" Toon Link whispered. "I… have to fight against _you_…?"

The black and blue jackal looked down and muttered, "I suppose so. I wished so much that I wouldn't have to fight you."

The young boy felt tears well up in his eyes instantly. This wasn't fair! Why…? Why Lucario…?

Lucario noticed the waterworks about to happen, and quickly tried to intervene. "Toon Link. This was inevitable; either way, one of us will die. Probably both of us, actually... Just be lucky that it was me who spotted you swimming in circles and not someone else, or else you would probably be dead by now."

"Right…" The smaller male muttered. "Do I really have to fight you? Can't we find a way out of this together?"

_No,_ Cirvex's young voice rang clearly through the water. _You can't. This is my world, and you will abide by my rules. I did not choose your opponent; you did when you chose the portal. Each portal was already linked to a world. I had no choice in which one you chose. Now, will you start fighting, or will I have to intervene…?_

"That won't be necessary," Lucario sighed. "Because I'm going to forfeit. Toon Link, good luck." Toon Link's eyes widened.

"Forfeit? You can't-!"

_You can't do that!_ Cirvex's voice shouted louder, drowning out Toon Link's voice. _I will not allow that to happen. What's the fun in that? If you want to forfeit, just let Toon Link stab you. You're not getting out of this without feeling _some_ kind of pain. That would be cheating!_

"How would it?" Lucario shot back. "You said if we lost, then you would fill our capsule with poison. Do it to mine! I lost when I found out I was facing Toon Link! I could never take such a young child's life!"

_You didn't lose yet! You can still win this!_

"I don't want to win this!"

_You cheater!_

"You never said forfeiting was against the rules! You can't go around changing them now!"

_THAT'S IT!_

Cirvex snapped. Lucario and Toon Link both gasped; perhaps the jackal had gone too far…?

The young boy had to cover his ears when Lucario suddenly started screaming. He turned to see what the problem was when he noticed that an entire group of piranhas seemed to have materialized out of nowhere and started to viciously bite into his friend's flesh.

"Lucario!" Toon Link shouted, and took out his weapon; a sword. He wasn't sure what good it would do underwater, but he had to try and save his friend!

He swam towards the moving mass and mercilessly started hacking off the piranhas. They seemed to not want to let go, however, and it only served to make them bite even harder, securing them in place. Lucario howled in agony, and Toon Link felt the tears spring to his eyes again. This was torture!

"Stop it, please!" He begged for Cirvex to listen to him. "You're killing him! This isn't fair! Please, stop! Kill me instead! Just stop hurting him!"

His heart shattered into pieces when the machine's voice didn't answer him.

"L-Lucario…!" Toon Link sobbed, clutching his sword even tighter. If they were on land, slicing the piranhas would have been so much easier; in fact, if they were on land, there couldn't be any piranhas at all! His friend's screams seemed to echo throughout the water, and the young boy looked on in horror as bright red blood started floating upwards.

If there was anything useful about oceans he had learned in school, it was that the scent of blood attracted… sharks. He gulped. Did Cirvex know about that fact…?

The answer was unfortunately yes. He heard something _large_ swimming its way towards them, and off in the distance he could see the silhouette. This wasn't good! He had to save Lucario _now!_

With renewed energy and determination, he shut his eyes and hacked his sword around as fast as he could through the water. _One, two, three_, Toon Link counted in his head as each piranha fell off. There were only about three left; the sliced bodies of their friends littered the sandy ocean floor below them. He pretended that he could still hear Lucario screaming; he didn't like the silence that possibly meant the poor jackal's death. The young boy couldn't even see his friend at all anymore; the cloud of blood was too thick to see through, and the piranhas were also disappearing out of sight.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, and quickly finished off the remaining devil spawns. Finally, there was nothing left to stop him from saving his friend's life. He reached through the vanishing cloud of blood and grabbed what he thought was Lucario's hand before pulling him towards him; part of him didn't want to see what was left of his friend, but he knew he had to go through with it if he wanted any chance of saving him.

He screamed in horror and let go of Lucario's mangled hand in order to cover his mouth with his own. The cloud of blood was quickly forming again, but he didn't care. His friend… there was almost nothing left of him. He could _see_ the animal's bones and torn tissues; the piranhas were _ruthless_. The tears finally spilt and instantly melted into the water before they even had a chance to roll down his face. Lucario's lifeless eyes stared up at him dully from the ocean floor, and then the remaining blood covered his face. Toon Link couldn't believe that there was even any of the life-giving liquid left in the body; he had lost so much…

He wept loudly, bawling his eyes out for several minutes. Even when he ran out of tears to cry moments later, he still dryly sobbed; this was horrible! He couldn't believe it. He was too late to save his friend…

The sound of something huge coming near instantly reminded him of the large shadow he saw earlier. There was still the shark to worry about. He quickly swam away as fast as he could, and only looked behind him once in order to see the shark down the body of his dead friend. The poor boy shook his head and continued onward.

He swam forward for just a few minutes before finally getting tired. Toon Link just stopped swimming, and allowed himself to just sink downwards into the sandy ground below. It wasn't as if he could drown anyway; Cirvex had made sure of that. He wished… he wished he could die. He couldn't save Lucario. That was it. There was nothing left to do now except wait and wallow in his own misery.

"_My, my! That was quite the horrible death, now wasn't it?_" The one voice Toon Link did not want to hear at the moment spoke up.

"Sh-shut up. I never want to hear your damn voice ever again."

"_Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such naughty language for such a young boy. Who taught you those words? I should have their mouth washed out with soap. Yours too, now that I think about it._"

"Shut up! You killed my friend!"

"_Actually, the piranhas did. He really annoyed me with his talk of forfeit and all. So I had them do the job for me!_"

"You _monster_. That… was the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life. If you're going to kill me, do it now. I don't care anymore."

"…_No. You survived Round One, albeit by default. When Lucario started talking about all those sorts of things, I knew that I wasn't going to let him move on. I won't kill you. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get some nice soul to end your existence in Round Two. Perhaps Lucas… or Olimar. They survived their battles as well, and they're very nice people. I had a conversation with them both; it was lovely. They'll be kind enough to kill you if you're serious about not moving on._"

"…"

"_Also, it was inevitable, like Lucario said before he angered me. Either way, one of you two would have died a horrible death; probably the both of you, since only one of the twenty who entered my worlds will survive. A shame, I like some of them. I don't think I can choose a favorite, though; I have too many! I will be sad once their death occurs, but it happens._"

"All of this could have been avoided if it weren't for you and your idiotic plan for revenge."

"_Hey,_" Cirvex's voice started to grow annoyed. "_I already had the 'I-am-an-idiot' talk with Olimar. I don't want to have a repeat of the same conversation with you._"

"You won't. I'm not talking to you anymore. Ever."

"_Oh, really? Are you sure? It gets quite lonely without anyone to talk to, you know._"

"…"

"…_Fine. I guess you aren't going back on your word. Good luck in Round Two… I mean it._"

"…"

Toon Link waited for a few minutes in silence, making sure that Cirvex was actually gone. Finally, after coughing a few times to check, he buried his face in his hands and sobbed his heart out for his lost friend once more.

**OoO**

Ness didn't know what to do.

He had found his opponent, Pikachu, quite a long time ago. However, the little mouse-like thing had _electric_ abilities! Cirvex told him that he wasn't allowed to use his PSI powers, so why was Pikachu allowed to use his?

_Because Pikachu can't hold a weapon,_ Cirvex had explained. Ness scoffed. It still wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault that Pikachu couldn't hold anything bigger than a cereal box! How was he supposed to win this?

He yelped as he felt the now familiar sting of electricity hit his back. Pikachu was closing in on him again. The young boy continued to run for his life. He was getting very tired, but he couldn't back down now! His entire life was at stake!

Ness groaned; he couldn't even use his weapon to defend himself. All he had was some sort of ray gun, and Pikachu had fried that long ago. The young psychic cursed his fear of thunder and lightning. If he wasn't so afraid, he probably could have won this battle a long time ago!

"Pikaaaa!"

He turned around to see what the little rat was up to; in doing so, however, he didn't see an upcoming rock, and tripped over it. "Oh, crap!" Was all he shouted as he fell to the grass. Pikachu smirked, and suddenly appeared before him in a flash. How was the little rodent so fast? He didn't even see it move closer! One second it was about a yard away, and the next it was on his stomach, pinning him to the ground!

…Wait. Pinning him to the ground? Oh, no…

"P-Pikachu," Ness choked out; the thing was heavier than it looked! "Please… don't kill me. I'm not even a teenager yet!" He knew it was the coward's way out, but honestly he didn't even care at the moment. All that mattered was saving his own life.

Pikachu tilted his head, as if confused, before suddenly giving the young boy the evilest look he had ever seen in his entire short life. "Pika," the yellow mouse said before charging up the electricity in his cheeks.

Ness prayed that some miracle would occur, and he would be saved. _Please…_ he begged to the heavens, about to tear up and cry. _Why is this mouse thing so cruel to me..?_

The last thing he heard was the roar of thunder and a loud cry of "PIKAAAA!"

**OoO**

Red looked around his area. He seemed to be in a graveyard of sorts; he shuddered. He never really liked looking at tombstones…

He let out a soft breath and rubbed his arms; it was actually quite chilly. A low wind was blowing eerily throughout the place, and the only source of light was the moon which looked absolutely way too big in the sky. It was actually kind of peaceful, but he was still high strung on edge as he walked around and stepped on leaves which crackled under his weight; he was worried his opponent could hear.

The teenager also didn't want to just stand in one spot and wait; what if his enemy came up from behind him and he didn't hear? He didn't know who his enemy even was, let alone what he was capable of. The ground looked completely black despite the moonlight; he tried not to look down at it too often. He couldn't even see the supposed leaves he was stepping on. Boy, did Cirvex know how to creep people out…

"O-Oh no…" he heard a soft voice mumble. His ears perked up and he turned around just to find nothing. He raised an eyebrow; was he just imagining things? He could have sworn he heard a whimper as well… he shrugged and turned to continue walking.

"Why here…"

Aha! He knew he heard a voice that time! He swiveled around once more and inspected the area; he still couldn't see anythi—wait! What was that green thing kneeling behind a gravestone? Was it his opponent? Red cautiously took a step forward to find out.

Once he felt that he was too close, he ducked behind the gravestone right in front of the being he saw earlier and cautiously brought himself up to peek over the top of it. There, he saw one of the other contestants—Luigi, if he remembered correctly—sitting there with his face in his hands, complaining about something.

"Of a places… a _graveyard_… I have the worst luck."

_You and me both buddy,_ Red thought with a sigh. He really didn't want to end this man's life, but what choice did he have in the matter? It was either Luigi's life or his own, and quite frankly, he did not want it to be his own.

He lightly felt the weight of his axe in his hands. Just one swipe and it would be over. Luigi would never see it coming. Red gulped, and slowly took a step outside of the protection of the gravestone. He winced when he heard a crackling noise, much like the noise he constantly heard when he stepped on leaves earlier.

"Who's there?" Luigi's head shot up, and Red quickly dove behind his barrier again. Unfortunately, this caused even more of a noise, and his opponent quickly got up and cautiously peeked over the gravestone just to see the teenager smiling up sheepishly at him. Luigi let out a loud squeak, and stumbled backwards and fell.

"Oh, well… hello there," Red said nervously, scratching the back of his head. Well, this wasn't how it was supposed to go… so much for being subtle.

"Y-you're…" Luigi stuttered. "You're my o-opponent, a-aren't you…?"

"…I'm afraid so," The black haired teenager got up and sighed. "Let me guess; you want to win, right?" The Italian's answer shocked him.

"…No. N-not really… I-I mean, I want to live b-but… I don't want to take away anyone's life in order to do so."

"Mm, I see what you mean. I think that's what most of us want to do, but this sick and twisted machine's forcing us to act otherwise."

_Will you people please stop calling me that?_

The two jumped backwards at the sudden intrusion in their conversation. Luigi screeched and pulled his hat down so that it covered his face; Red's left eye twitched and he muttered a "holy shit."

_I know already. None of you like me. I get it. However, I never asked for you to like me at all, so stop saying it! It's getting really annoying!_ Cirvex sighed. _Just… just battle. I'll watch. Curse me out all you want in your head; I'm tired of hearing it. Just shut up already._

Red sighed; he didn't want to get on Cirvex's bad side. "All right, all right… Luigi, get up. If Cirvex wants a show, that's exactly what we're going to give him."

"E-eh…?"

…_Really? Finally. I was beginning to worry you'd never start. It's currently midnight. The longer you take, the shorter time you'll give the survivors and others to finish Rounds Two and Three. Remember, you only have up to six in the morning._

…_Crap, I took that long?_ Red winced. As much as he didn't want to, it'd be better if at least one of the twenty participants lived opposed to them all dying. He gripped his axe tightly. "Let's do this."

Luigi gulped, but seemed to understand what the teenager was thinking and stood on his feet. He cautiously leaned over a gravestone and pulled up his weapon; a spear. Red smirked; that would be easy to break with his axe. He took a few steps backwards and held back his weapon before running forward with a war cry, ready to finally start the battle.

The Italian jumped a bit, but quickly narrowed his eyes and literally _jumped_ over Red. The teenager couldn't believe his eyes; this man could jump _high_! He stumbled forwards after swinging his axe and took a few precious seconds to get his bearings; it was his fatal mistake.

He screamed and crumpled to the ground as a soaring pain made itself known on his lower back and stomach. Red looked down in horror to realize that Luigi did not waste any time at all in attacking back, and had pretty much just rammed his spear into him with all his strength. He couldn't take the thing out; the pain was too much! Not to mention, taking it out would make everything worse! He had to keep fighting; if he won, he could beg Cirvex to heal him.

The teenager rose with great difficulty and started to cough into his hands; he felt a sticky liquid he knew was his blood splatter on his fingers. He tried to ignore the sickening thought and tried to focus on the green blur standing just in front of him. Red groaned as he took a step forward, and nearly fell down again; the pain was too much! He was going to bleed to death at this rate if the spear didn't puncture any vital organs; he didn't know; he never did very well in Health class at school.

Luigi, from his side of the arena, gave the teen a sympathetic look. He hadn't meant to put his opponent in such a blinding pain… maybe he should finish it off for him.

"Augh… _damn it!_" Red screamed as he felt another pain shoot through him from the inside. "_This freaking hurts!_"

The green blur started to come closer, and Red started to panic. No! He wouldn't lose!

"_STAY BACK!_" Red swung the axe wildly as a warning, and it worked. The green blob in his quickly failing eyesight jumped back, and judging from the scream of pain he heard, he hit his target. Exactly _where_ he hit him, Red didn't care; he just wanted him to die quickly!

Luigi screeched in pain as he tried to pull the axe out of his arm; Red was a hard hitter! He nearly cut it to the bone. The Italian whimpered in pain at the thought of completely losing his arm. The axe was heavy; it would fall out soon enough, and he could treat his arm then.

But… there was still the matter of the raging teenager in front of him. The green man felt remorse for his earlier action; Red was nice earlier! Now… the pain seemed to change him into a monster. He needed to put him out of his misery quickly.

Red couldn't see anything anymore. Everything was just one giant blur to him, and he saw darkness creeping in the corner of his eyesight, limiting it more than it already was. He couldn't see the green blob thing anymore; he could barely see anything at all. The teenager panted heavily; he shouldn't have screamed and attacked his enemy like that. He was going to die… wasn't he?

He felt something that suspiciously felt like hands push against his back, and then he knew it. Red fell forwards and didn't even try to stop himself. He felt a large searing pain in his forehead as it smashed into something, probably a hard and grey gravestone, and then it all went black for him.

**OoO**

"Leave me alone! Please!"

Popo screamed in fear as he ran away from a charging Douglas Falcon. Why, why, _why_ did he have to end up with _this_ guy, of all people? Falcon was probably the most muscular person there! Why couldn't he get someone weak-looking, like Olimar?

He felt tears spring to his eyes as he figured that he most likely wouldn't make it out of this battle alive. His weapon, a single motion sensor bomb, had already been used up when he first entered the arena. He didn't know what it was, so he just played with it until it started beeping and threw it away and started to run out of fear. Then it blew up and attracted his opponent, and now he was running for his life.

Popo felt like such an idiot. He shouldn't have wasted his one and only chance of survival after that. Falcon hadn't even pulled out his weapon once; even if he still had his own weapon, Popo still would have lost, he was sure. There was no chance of him surviving from the very beginning.

Nana… she was probably dead by now. He felt the tears sting his eyes, and started to slow down. Why bother, anyway? What point was there in living if there was no chance that the both of them could make it out alive? That girl… was his entire life. They'd been together for as long as he can remember, and if she was dead, then he definitely wasn't going to leave her by herself!

…But wait! What if she _wasn't_ dead? What if she was still alive, waiting for her brother to come and rescue her? He would _die_ for her. He needed to make sure she was still safe. What was he thinking, about to just let Falcon kill him? He needed to protect his sister!

"Ha! I can do this!" He said confidently to himself, pumping his fists in the air. Popo didn't realize that Falcon was still right behind him; his fist was pulled back and ready to unleash a fatal attack.

"_Falcon…_"

Popo jumped at the sudden voice; this was the first time that Falcon had spoken ever since he had the misfortune to run into him. What was he going to do…?

He screamed in fear and ducked for his life and Falcon's entire fist suddenly burst into fire in the shape of a… well, falcon. "_PUUUUUUUNCH!" _The young boy felt the feat from the flames pass above him, and he swore that he felt fire singe the top of his favorite blue hood. Cirvex was nice enough to give them their usual outfits, but Falcon was now that much faster!

The boy looked up in shock to see Falcon's fist still held above his head, seemingly unharmed. How? His entire arm was on fire! What just happened?

"Heh," Falcon smirked cockily. "Surprised? That was my signature move; the Falcon Punch. It's quite a sight, isn't it?"

Before he had the chance to reply, Popo found himself suddenly acquainted with older man's foot. He flew backwards and crashed into a tree; he slid down the bark painfully, dazed. His ears picked up the sound of Falcon approaching once more, and he tried to pick himself up; before he could, however, the man in question had already reached him and held him up high by the front of his winter parka, his fist pulled back once more and poised for another Falcon Punch.

Popo squeezed his eyes shut. So this was it, then. This is where he would die. Shame he didn't get to see Nana just one more time, but he hoped that she didn't die, and that she would be able to be the one survivor who got out of it alive. He held his breath, waiting for the blow.

"_Falcon…_"

He saw his life flash before his eyes, much like in the clichéd way movies and books spoke of it. His sister appeared in pretty much every single memory his brain showed him… he loved her so much. _Please, Nana…_ he thought, trying not to cry. _Don't cry for me if you're still alive. Keep living… and be strong._

"_PUUUUUUUUUUNCH!_"

Falcon felt his fist connect with the young boy's face, and it felt so _odd_. He wasn't sure, but if he were to describe it in his own words, he would say something like "it felt like his entire face broke at my hand!"

…He wasn't that far off from the truth.

When he pulled his bloody fist back, he gasped and took a step backwards, dropping the body. Popo's face was a completely bloody mess; he couldn't even tell where one feature began and ended. The young boy's blood covered his entire upper torso and even splattered onto his face; he felt sick. He just _ended_ a young boy's life. He wasn't thinking of it while he was chasing him down; all he could think about was his will to live.

And now that the deed was done, he could only say three words.

"Oh my God."


	5. Isseini

**A/N: Chapter five! This chapter's shorter than the rest, but Round Two starts here! I'm going to do each chapter on Round Two centered on each group, along with some reactions from the audience and just Cirvex by himself. This chapter focuses on what I very **_**originally**_** labeled as 'Group C'. Tomorrow will be 'Group B', and then chapter seven will be on 'Group A.'**

**ALSO!**

**I was PMed a suggestion to reset the poll so that you could all vote again on who you want to live with the updated list. Please vote on that!**

**(Actually, please **_**read this chapter first BEFORE you vote.**_** There is a character death in this chapter, and that person will not be in the poll. So please read this chapter as to not spoil yourself.)**

**Enjoy!**

**OoO**

In the auditorium, everyone stared at the ten capsules still on stage; the ten survivors of Round One.

Mist, Ike's sister, continued to sob weakly, but as soon as the tenth capsule went down, did her best to dry her tears so that she could pay more attention to what Round Two would bring. She was going to hope that Roy won; yes, he was her brother's murderer, but she knew he meant well. _Please be okay, Roy_… she thought as she wiped her eyes furiously. _Don't get caught by any traps…_

Palutena seemed to have been doing a better job at keeping her emotions under check than the younger girl; however, she did occasionally sniffle every once in a while. She remembered Pit's words in her head; not to cry, and that she was a strong woman who should continue life with her head help up high… The woman chuckled sadly. Pit was such a cheesy man...

A pink hedgehog was sobbing her heart out in her own seat; why did it have to be Sonic? Why? She had thought… _prayed_ that her love would come out of it alive… What had he done wrong? She ignored the people surrounding her trying to console and comfort her; what did they know? They hadn't loved him the way she did… they couldn't possibly understand the _pain_ she was going through.

"Amy…" An orange fox next to her whispered softly. "Please don't cry. I'm sure Sonic wouldn't want you to go through all of this just because of him."

"Shut up, Tails!" Amy shouted, and pushed Tails away roughly into a red echidna. "You don't understand! I _loved_ him! How could you… How could you expect me not to cry?"

"Amy, I—" Tails started, but was cut off by the echidna.

"Don't bother, Tails," Knuckles sighed and shook his head. "If she's going to moan and complain about it for the rest of her life, then let her. She'll grow up once she realizes it's useless to mope. It won't change anything."

"Yeah, but…" the two tailed fox looked back over to his female friend, and felt even worse because of Knuckles' words. "I don't want her to be! I want her to stop crying… for Sonic…"

Nearby, Peach unwillingly listened to their conversation. She wished they wouldn't be so loud; it was making her teary. The blonde reporter needed to be strong for Zelda, for the both of them. It was hard, knowing that the people they came there to support were both still alive and were possibly going to be killed in a brutal way later on in the night.

Cirvex was laughing when he announced that Lucario was dead. His laugh was cold, and cruel; Peach literally shook and could have sworn that just hearing it was enough to make her bones turn into ice. Such a young and lovely voice… it broke her heart to hear it being used in such a deranged manner.

And yet, she found that she couldn't hate him. Most of the audience members had taken to screaming out their outrage and disapproval of the dead boy's actions, but Cirvex shook them off and ordered them to be quiet. Peach wasn't like that, though. She _knew_ he had to have some part of his humanity left inside of him, no matter how deep inside it was. Cirvex was still once a human, and he was still once able to feel emotion. But that was just the kind of person Peach was; she just couldn't hate anyone instantly, no matter how horrible they were. Perhaps it was the voice that made her feel this way…

Zelda, on the other hand, found it very hard to forgive him. Young boy or not, this…_ thing_ was a monster. A murdering and malevolent machine. He forced twenty innocent people into a sick world just to kill each other off to see who would survive. And included in those twenty people was her love, Link. She couldn't imagine life without him; it would just be too awful to bear…

A young pink sphere-like being caught the reporter's attention, and she turned to see it crying into a similar yet darker looking creature's… body? She wasn't sure.

"Ji-jiggly…" the being whispered as it cried, hugging its partner as tight as it could.

"Shh…" The other responded in a deep voice. "It's all right. I'm here to protect you; Meta Knight is here… Please don't cry. At least no one we know is in the game, right…?"

"Jigglyp-puff…" The pink being, a female by the sound of its voice, replied. Zelda wondered how the other, Meta Knight, was able to understand her, but just chalked it off to them being similar in appearance.

"I know it's awful," Meta Knight whispered. "But we can't leave. Kirby wanted us to stay here so that we could keep an eye on one of his good friends; I believe his name was Lucas…? Apparently, the two are great friends, and Kirby would be devastated to hear of his death. However, his job as a waiter here prevents him from watching Lucas at all times, so we must do it for him. Please, Jigglypuff… it's all right. We won't be harmed."

"Jiggly…"

Zelda sighed, and turned back to face Peach; she didn't want to intrude on their private conversation anymore. So they were here for Lucas, the young blonde boy…? She smiled; he seemed like such a sweet child… it was horrible that he had to go through was he was currently going through. Cirvex… she would never forgive him.

Never.

**OoO**

"_Hello participants, and welcome to Round Two._"

Like Cirvex had promised, another portal, similar to the one that had teleported him to this peaceful field a while ago, appeared next to Lucas. The blonde boy gulped; this was it. He had the chance to relax, and now he was off once more, ready to go and fight for his life.

Lucas briefly wondered who was still alive. He knew Roy was alive, of course, but Cirvex hadn't spoken to him at all ever since their conversation a few hours ago. He didn't know who he was up against. In such a short amount of time, twenty people had been reduced to a measly ten. He wondered what Round Two would consist of… would it be another set of battles? That would leave five people… then what about Round Three? There wouldn't be an even number of people left after Round Two. What would Cirvex do then?

He decided that it didn't matter at the moment, and finally jumped inside of the portal. Lucas felt the familiar sinking sensation in his stomach once more, just like when he had entered through a portal earlier that evening. There was really nothing quite like instant teleportation, he thought.

After a few seconds, he landed softly on a hard floor. Looking around himself, Lucas realized that he was in a cave of some sorts; it was dark and the walls were of a reddish color. There were also candles lighting up the place for some reason… why would Cirvex do that?

"_I'm glad to see you all can make it. Take a look around yourselves; who do you see?_"

Lucas raised an eyebrow and turned to his left just to squeak in fear when he realized that Falcon was standing next to him. When had he gotten there? He could have sworn there was no one there earlier!

"L-Lucas?" Falcon sounded unsure of himself. His voice shook, and the way he twitched was honestly creeping Lucas out. It was as if Falcon had seen or done something no human should have ever done. "Are… you my next opponent?" He sounded frightened as well, Lucas noted. That's strange; he was so confident earlier in the evening… what happened? Who did he fight?

"…I don't think so," another soft voice piped up. The two turned around to see Olimar looking up at the both of them. "I'm here, too."

"O-Ollie…" Falcon breathed out in disbelief. "Is this a three way brawl…?"

"_No, Falcon_," Cirvex answered, finally talking once more. "_The people you see around you? These are your 'teammates', so to speak. In Round Two, you and your group must find a portal. However, this portal can only transport one of you. The first one to jump inside of it makes it to Round Three instantly without failure._"

Lucas let out a sigh of relief. That didn't sound too bad… but what about the other two who would be left behind?

"_As for the other two_," Cirvex answered as if he read his mind. "_Another portal will appear instantly after the first person jumps through the first one, but it won't do anything… at least, it won't do anything until there's only one of you left alive._"

…Oh. The young boy felt his heart sink.

"_The remaining two will battle for the right to move on to Round Three. Once someone is dead, the portal will activate normally, and the winner will be allowed to move on. However, if you jump in before your opponent is dead… the portal will instantly kill you, and the other person will pass. I will not condone cheating._"

Falcon gulped. He… he _needed_ to get to that portal first. Olimar was one of his best friends, and he couldn't handle killing another child in cold blood! Not after what happened to Popo… he never wanted to do that ever again.

And in a way, he decided that killing Olimar was also like killing a kid. The short male was smaller than the average human child, and just the way he did things… reminded Falcon of a young person. He shuddered. He didn't want to have his friend's blood on his hands.

Olimar gulped, and looked between his 'teammates'. _…I guess I'm not making it out of this round alive, _he thought. He wouldn't be able to fight Falcon even if he tried, and Lucas was quick and nimble enough to get to the portal first. Sure, Olimar himself was nimble… but he wouldn't call himself quick. He was done for.

"_There are currently two groups of three, and one group of four. If you are in the group of four, it works in almost a similar way. Instead of one portal, there are two of them. The first two to make it inside goes to Round Three, and the remaining two must battle to the death. The winner gets the last portal, and we're done. It's simple, really. In other words…_

"_Only three people are dying this round. You have a good chance of making it of it alive. Just make sure you get to the portal first. Good luck._" And with that, the voice disappeared.

The odd trio looked at each other nervously. This wasn't going to end well.

**OoO**

Cirvex sighed. He had just finished explaining Round Two, and now all he had to do was sit back and wait.

He told Toon Link that he had a lot of favorites, but that wasn't necessarily true. He only cared for two of the people in the virtual world, and those two were Lucas and Olimar.

They… they had actually talked to him. He tried to talk to the other survivors, but they refused to have a civil conversation with him. Some screamed obscenities at him until he left (Link), and some just refused to talk to him (Toon Link). Falcon had failed to acknowledge that he was even there, and Roy just sat there in the snow, waiting for the portal. Those were the boring ones.

He constantly relayed the conversations he had with Lucas and Olimar in his memory drives. Cirvex feared that he really _was_ starting to turn soft, and that he really did regret his actions. He didn't want that to happen. He was _Cirvex 5.0_ now, the ultimate machine; he could do whatever he wanted without feeling bad and still be able to easily go into sleep mode at night.

Cirvex wasn't sure who he was anymore.

Was he Cirvex the machine, or Cirvex Hand still? He could still vaguely remember his human appearance; and how his mother would tell him that he was the most handsome boy who had ever lived… If he could scoff, he would have. What a lie that was.

It wasn't as if he ever cared for his looks, anyway. All he had ever wanted was his father's affection… and did he ever get it? No. Apparently video gaming and random strangers were more important to the bastard than his _own son_. He started to feel rage well up inside of him again; _he _was the reason he was doing all of this! It was all because of _him!_

Back in the control room, Master Hand felt uneasy as the buttons and keyboards started to spark an electric blue color. He had hoped that Cirvex had forgotten about him, but something must have triggered his anger… The last time it happened, it was because of Lucario. The large hand was still in disbelief that he was still alive; the electricity had grown _large_ and nearly shocked him. The anger and rage he felt towards Lucario was simply unbelievable; what happened now?

"_You BASTARD!_" He heard his son's voice scream. "_You abandoned me! You monster! I hate you! You don't know how hard it is to not just kill you right now!_"

Master Hand didn't reply; he found that trying to reason with the malevolent machine was worse than not saying anything at all. He merely stayed where he was, held to the wall by Cirvex's mechanical limbs, not saying a word.

He shouted in surprise when suddenly the limbs lifted him up and smashed him back into the wall. The flimsy barrier collapsed easily and crumbled to the ground. The white latex glove could only groan; was Cirvex really going to…?

"_I can't believe you honestly held this project over _my own life!_ Why was this so important to you? You wouldn't even let me help with the production! '_You're too young_,' you would tell me. Who cares how old I was? I was smarter than the rest of the imbeciles in my entire school! I had an above average intelligence for one of my age! And you _still _wouldn't let me help you!_"

Master Hand groaned as with each sentence, he was smacked harshly to the floor. The back of his body ached terribly; it was starting to grow numb. The small rocks and debris digging into his glove wasn't helping much with his pain either; some had even punctured through and he started to bleed.

"_You used to be so nice to me! When mom died, you suddenly grew distant and cold! It's not fair! And don't you try to use the _'I don't want to be so close to you that I'll be heartbroken when you die too'_ excuse! That won't work! I would have died a long time after you, anyway! I… I didn't even get to attend my own funeral! Did you even hold one? I DON'T THINK SO!_"

With each word he screamed, he smacked his father harder and harder into the walls and floor, and raised him up so high that he would also smash into the ceiling. Master Hand grew dizzy; he wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle.

"_You cold hearted bastard! You won't even talk to me anymore! Am I _that_ much of a disgrace to you now? Am I? Well, _father_,_" He spat out the word as if it was poison. Another mechanical limb appeared, and the tip slowly sharped into a sharp spear-like shape. Master Hand knew what was coming. _"You can just GO TO HELL!_"

With finality, he slammed the giant hand onto the spear, and felt a sadistic feeling of glee course through him as he finally heard _something_ from his father; a long and drawn out scream. It eventually choked off into a cough, and it all grew silent once more. The hand's fingers slowly started to curl into a fist, and then loosened a few seconds later as he spoke his final words to his son.

"I don't… hate you…"

If Cirvex still had a body and face, he would have looked at his father in disbelief. After all that shouting and screaming at him just a few hours ago, he had the nerve to say that he didn't hate him? He was about ready to call bullshit. As the red blood trickled down the spear, he flicked his father's body off and watched as it slumped down a piece of a wall that still remained.

"_You liar._"

**OoO**

Samus looked at her teammates. They all looked back at her.

Roy coughed. "Well… are we going to walk now?"

The female sighed and turned; they probably should get a move on. She wasn't sure what time it was, and she sure as hell wasn't about to ask. All she knew what that it was past midnight, and they had less than six hours to kill everyone off. Fun.

She briefly wondered why they couldn't have just been placed in a large arena and fought until there was just one person left standing. It would have been so much easier and faster. Instead, Cirvex had to go through all this trouble to make up some kind of tournament that everyone would forget in two weeks and just label it off as a tragedy. She snorted.

Roy, walking behind her, sighed. He wanted to get to know the female bounty hunter a little better, but… she seemed too distant. Whenever he tried to talk to her, she would either ignore him with a shrug of her shoulders or kick him in the crotch and then proceed to ignore him even more. He just wanted to know more about her; was that so hard?

He looked down at the little mouse-thing at his feet. It looked so cute. Honestly, Roy couldn't believe how it had won its battle; it looked so harmless!

As if he had sensed the human staring at him, Pikachu looked up and gave a sweet smile. "Pika," he said. Roy smiled. This little guy couldn't harm anyone. His opponent must have been an idiot to get killed by something as soft and cuddly as Pikachu!

Behind them, Toon Link shuffled his feet. He was still depressed about the death of Lucario. The tall red haired man tried to cheer him up with a smile, but the young boy would have none of it. He simply ignored him and continued walking.

When he walked past Pikachu, the small yellow mouse looked up at him and squeaked out a "Pikachu!" Toon Link bent down and rubbed the Pokémon's back affectionately; Pikachu responded by purring and started to act like a cat, even going as far as to turn on his back and show his stomach to him. The boy smiled and rubbed that as well; Pikachu seemed very happy.

"If you don't mind," Samus interrupted their private session without turning around. "We kind of need to get to a portal. We don't have much time. Hurry up."

Toon Link shot Pikachu an apologetic look; Pikachu just simply nodded and rolled back over and continued following the scary woman. Roy behind them just simply shook his head and jogged to catch up with them.

"What do you think the portal looks like, anyway?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Toon Link shot him a look as if Roy had suddenly grown a second head and shouted out his undying love for teenaged romance novels. The red head looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"Gee, I don't know," Samus turned around and gave him an annoyed look. "I'd imagine it would look _exactly like all of the other portals we've seen already_, don't you think?"

"Sheesh," Roy muttered. "I was just trying to lighten up the mood."

"Don't bother," the blonde woman replied as she turned back around and continued leading the way. "We're all going to die, anyway."

"Don't say that! Maybe we'll all find a way to get out of here! Cirvex may be powerful, but he doesn't have control over _everything_, does he? He's only as good as Master Hand made him! If we can just find a… a _glitch_, or something, then we could wake ourselves up and get out of here!"

"What about the others?" Toon Link spoke up in a soft voice, his head held down. "How will we get them out?"

"Simple," Roy smiled. "If we bust out of the capsules ourselves, we can just break theirs and shake them until they wake up!"

"It won't work." Samus shot down his idea in a heartbeat. "We may be the first outsiders to ever test this game, but I highly doubt Cirvex would be that faulty. We wouldn't even know what we're looking for. What, a rip in space? Something that's colored wrong? How do we know if it's a glitch or not?" Roy opened his mouth to reply, but then quickly shut it and looked away. "I made my point."

"Also," Toon Link added to Roy's dismay. "I think they made sure that we wouldn't be able to wake up easily. If we could, then I'm sure the screams of everyone in the audience would have woken us up by now."

"Ah, yeah…" Roy scratched his cheek. "You have a good point, there… man, it sucks to know that we're sleeping when it feels like we aren't!"

Pikachu turned to look at him and muttered a "pika pi…" while shaking his head and continuing onward.

They continued walking in silence for a few more minutes before Toon Link looked up and his eyes widened. "…Hey! Isn't that the portal right there?"

"Where?" Roy ran up to Toon Link and saw where the young boy was pointing to. Off to the side, easy to skip over if one wasn't focused, was a shimmering portal. The colors swirled, but the light coming off it wasn't bright enough to easily give away its location. "…Yeah! I think that's it! All right!"

"…Now there's just the matter of who's going in there first," Samus muttered. She turned to look at her group. "I think Toon Link should go. He should have the best chance to survive."

Roy nodded in agreement, and smiled down at the young boy. "Yeah; you go on. You're just a little kid, and I would feel awful if I had to fight you."

Toon Link looked up and glared at the adults. "Don't treat me like a little kid! That's exactly what Lucario said before he… he…" He broke himself off, shook his head, and continued to narrow his eyes. "I don't want to go first because you feel bad for me! I want to go first because I know I have a chance at getting out of here alive! I'm not as weak as you all think!"

"…You're right," Samus replied, looking softly down at him. "I'm sorry for treating you like a little child when you clearly do not want to be called one. I do hope you go on first, though. I don't mind taking another portal."

The young boy nodded and ran towards the portal, but not before turning around to look back at them. "Thank you… and be careful, you guys! I want to see you all in Round Three! …Except the one who dies, of course. I don't know who it will be, but know this; your sacrifice will not be in vain! I'll survive and make it out of here for all three of you!"

With those words and a face that was about ready to shine once more, he jumped into the portal, which flickered and disappeared after him. Almost immediately, another portal appeared right next to the space where the first one was just seconds before.

"I'll let you take this one," Roy nodded to Samus. "And don't think it's because you're a girl; I swear that's not why I'm letting you go!" He hastily added on when she started to narrow her eyes at him. "I just… I don't want to leave you here by yourself. I know you're strong and all that, but you're still a woman inside… And I want to protect the females of this world!" He jabbed his thumb at his chest and smiled cheesily.

Samus looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Finally, she turned and hid her face from him and said, "All right… if you insist. Good luck. Make it into Round Three… Roy." Roy's face immediately brightened when she spoke his name and jumped into the portal. It disappeared, and another portal took its place.

"So, this is the one that matters," Roy muttered. He looked down at Pikachu, who seemed very annoyed at having been ignored. "All right, Pikachu! Samus wants me to make it into Round Three, and that's exactly what I will do! I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do, though; _please_ don't hate me!" He held out the hammer he had acquired from his battle with Ike; he still had his flamethrower of course, but he wanted to make this quick.

Pikachu narrowed his eyes at him into a glare, and Roy gulped; suddenly the yellow mouse didn't look so cute and fluffy anymore…

"Pikaa!" Was all the warning the redhead got before his opponent charged him head-on and rammed into his stomach. Roy coughed and fell backwards; the little guy was a _lot_ stronger than he looked!

He gripped his hammer and stood up and shaky feet and held his weapon out in front of him. "Be a good mouse and stand still!"

Pikachu ignored him; instead, he jumped to the side and Roy swore he saw _electricity_ start to spark and form around his cheeks. The man gulped; he was beginning to understand exactly how Pikachu's opponent was killed…

He just barely jumped out of the way when a lightning bolt suddenly struck the area he was standing in just milliseconds earlier. "Holy shit!" Roy looked wide-eyed over to Pikachu, who was now sparking with the aftershocks. "This… is not going to be as easy as I had hoped."

Roy stood up and started to run around the cave screaming at the top of his lungs. A yellow mouse was about to kill him! He would have laughed in any other situation, but Pikachu was really going to _kill_ him! Even Ike wasn't this cute and cuddly before he turned into a devil's spawn! This was horrible! Death by cuteness… Roy found it fitting. It was quite a _shocking_ end…

He mentally slapped himself for the idiotic pun.

Pikachu quickly lowered himself to his feet and started darting off after the screaming redhead. It was then that Roy remembered that he had a _flamethrower_! He turned and hurled his hammer at Pikachu, who quickly saw it and immediately dashed to the side. Roy's eyes widened; the little mouse was _fast_, that was for sure.

He started running backwards, careful not to run into any walls in the cave as he felt himself for the flamethrower. It was around here _somewhere_… aha! The redhead whipped out his original weapon with a smile on his face and quickly started it up; it was very useful to know how to use weapons when you have them!

Pikachu, not expecting the incoming inferno, squeaked as he ran into the flames head on. Roy winced as he heard the screams of the mouse as the fire licked at his flesh; Ike had screamed the exact same way as well. It wasn't something he liked to remember.

The yellow mouse rolled out of the fire's path and started frantically throwing himself on the hard and rocky ground to put out the remaining flames on his body. After a few moments, he stood up shakily and glared at Roy, noticing all of the burnt fur on him. Pikachu prepared to send a fatal thunder shock over to his enemy, and winced as the electricity coursed over his fur and face; the burns made it hurt when he usually wouldn't have felt it at all.

Roy screeched when he noticed the yellow static and started running for his life again. How was he supposed to fight a small and cute mouse? Ike was a lot easier to handle, since he was a fellow human, and the redhead saw it as a chance to practice his fighting skills… which would have resulted in permanent consequences if he had lost.

This gave him an idea; didn't Cirvex say that if a combatant jumped into the last portal before his opponent was dead, then it would immediately kill him? What if he lured Pikachu close to the portal and pushed him in? Then he wouldn't feel as bad as he would if he smashed his brains out!

He settled on this plan; he wouldn't hurt Pikachu anymore unless it was absolutely necessary. The mouse glared at him with a horrifying look, but Roy tried not to pay attention to his face. All that mattered was getting Pikachu near the portal…

Pikachu quickly used his quick attack and instantly appeared in front of Roy, drawing a short scream from the short man. He latched onto his stomach and with a cry of "_CHUUUUUU!_" unleashed his deadly electricity, listening gleefully to the screams from his opponent. The mouse smiled wickedly and didn't notice Roy painfully raise his right arm up and smash Pikachu across the face with his flamethrower, causing him to fly nearly to the other side of the cave's room.

Roy panted and fell to the ground, groaning in pain as the electricity continued to run its course throughout his body. "Damn it," he muttered, looking over to his flamethrower. It sure had come in handy; that was the exact same tactic he had used on Ike in the first battle as well…

After giving himself a few precious seconds to catch his breath, he quickly got up to his feet and started running over to the portal. Pikachu on the other side got up as well and shook his entire body; his face felt completely numb. His eyes widened when he saw Roy heading over to the portal. He wasn't dead yet! What was that idiot doing?

He used his quick attack again and appeared right between Roy and the portal. "Pika!" He shouted at the red haired man. What was he thinking? One should never leave their opponent as if they were already dead! He needed to make sure first!

Roy raised an eyebrow; was Pikachu lecturing him? He shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Pikachu." The yellow mouse looked up at him in confusion. What was the idiot going on about now? Roy clarified, "I'm sorry that I have to do this."

With that, he kicked his right leg back and before Pikachu could even wonder what he was about to do, punted the small Pokémon harshly into the portal. Pikachu screamed; no! This was not what was supposed to happen! It was a trap! He flailed around wildly, trying to steer himself out of the portal's way or _something_; just don't go in there!

He zipped through quickly, and the portal disappeared instantly. Roy fell to the ground, pretending that he couldn't hear Pikachu's screams of pain fading off into silence. He panted harshly; what was he going to do now? He didn't know the portal would disappear with the body of his opponent; he was sort of expecting Pikachu to just instantly die and then shoot right back out and allow himself to go in.

"…_Well, congratulations, Roy._" Cirvex's voice rang and echoed throughout the cave. Roy found the young voice oddly comforting, but was it just him, or did Cirvex seem… out of breath somehow? "_You can… go on through now. I'm activating another portal. Just hop right through. You'll find yourself in a blank dimension. Don't worry; a new world will appear once Round Three begins. Just hang around there and relax until we can get everyone else._"

"…Okay." Roy said his first words to the machine as a portal opened up right in front of him, and he jumped inside. He _did_ feel bad for offing Pikachu like that, but… all was fair in the game of survival.

All that was left to do now was wait.


	6. Sårbarhed

**A/N: Why am I not surprised that Link and Toon Link are dominating the polls? They're currently tied for first.  
><strong>

**Olimar's popularity is a bit of a surprise, though; he's in second.**

**Luigi, Lucas, and Roy are in third. Falcon is in fourth.**

**And poor Nana and Samus are in last place, and are the only two with absolutely no votes at all. D:**

**I don't know what to feel about this chapter. I like it and yet I hate it at the same time. I don't know how you all will feel about it.**

**Well, next chapter is the conclusion of Round Two, hopefully! (I say hopefully because… well, you'll see once you read it.)**

**Also, Diabolos (and everyone else who this may apply to): I'm sorry that I killed off Marth and Pikachu; those two were actually based on the poll, and neither of them got any votes in the first one. Well… Pikachu got **_**one**_** vote, but he was up against Roy, who had two votes. (They were votes from my friends in real life, who are also reading this story. Funnily enough, one of them is _horrified_ at the Links having the most votes. Link has too many fans. :P) So… Roy won that battle. I'm glad you're still enjoying this, though!**

**And… one of my friends who voted for Roy insists on calling him a 'Ray of Sunshine'. (she totally told me to say that. I'm serious.) *Cough* Well…**

**Enjoy!**

**OoO**

Nana walked slowly behind the two older males in front of her. She was nervous; where was Popo? Was he with another group? There were only three, according to Cirvex. Perhaps he was in the group with four people? She really hoped so; she didn't want to be by herself for much longer.

The man who looked like an older version of her friend creeped her out. He would rarely talk to her or the other man, only doing so when he was announcing something important like '_let's take a break; we've been walking for a long time now_', or '_Nana, please put that rock down, I'm afraid you'll throw it at my head and accidentally kill me before we even find the portal._'

The aforementioned rock was indeed dropped by the only female reluctantly, and the trio trudged on, hardly ever making conversation with each other. Nana was worried. There was no way she could take either of the two on in a fight; they were both older and thus much more skilled than her. The fact that she had killed Marth was a pure miracle in itself earlier; he was taken by surprise. There were no places to hide in this cave. If she didn't make it in that portal first… she was as good as dead.

"Um…" she spoke up softly, and the two men before her stopped and turned around. "If we find the portal… who's going to go in it? Are we going to make an agreement, or are we just going to fight for it…?"

The one with a mustache shrugged. "I'm not sure," he spoke just as quietly. "What do you think, Link?" The two turned to face the green-clad man.

Link sighed. "I think… we should let the girl go through first. She's just a child, right? You shouldn't have to go through all of this." Nana's eyes widened. Was she really getting a free pass out of Round Two?

"But what about you?" Luigi asked, and Nana felt her heart sink. "You said you have a girlfriend, right? Zelda. What about her? I know Nana's just a child, but if you let her go on first without a fight, then you actually _will_ have to battle me, and…" he took a deep breath. "I won't hold back. I don't want to kill you, but I also want to live…"

"I completely understand." Link smiled softly. "I didn't want to kill anyone either, but this is Cirvex's world, and we're abiding by his rules, no matter how much we don't want to. Come on, let's talk while we walk; there's no point in just standing around and doing nothing."

The other two nodded and continued following after the supposed leader of the group. They never had an actual discussion about who should be leading, but Link was probably the most wise out of the three, and thus they let him lead without any complaints. Wherever the man with the pointy ears walked, his current comrades would follow.

"I…" Nana took a deep breath. "You don't _have_ to let me go through first. If you really do have a girlfriend waiting for you, then you should go. I… don't have anyone left for me, besides my brother. But he's also in this game, and we can't leave with more than one person alive." She decided not to tell them of her plan to get everyone out just yet; she decided not to tell them until they reached a different topic. "And… a life without my brother is a life not worth living at all."

"Don't say that!" Luigi suddenly shouted out, causing the other two to jump. "All life is precious, even if you don't think so! I'm sure that if your brother is still alive, he's fighting just so he can give you more of a chance to live! If you two end up being the final two, then of _course_ he's going to fight to the end to see that you make it out of here safely. Please don't give up hope, Nana. Just go through first… who knows?"

"…" The pink parka wearing girl decided not to reply. The trio was silent for a few more minutes before one of them finally spoke up once more, sparking a new conversation.

"I wish we could all get out of here alive," Link sighed. "But Cirvex is not going to make that easy, I'm sure. Do any of you have any plans?"

Luigi shook his head, and Nana felt her heart race. This was it! This was her chance…

"I… might," she admitted, causing the two to turn and look at her. "I'm not sure how it will work, but… do you think that Cirvex is… slipping?"

"What do you mean?" Link raised an eyebrow at her curiously; Luigi's eyes widened.

"I think she's right. He wasn't acting as cold as he usually was. At first, he was all really mean and scary," he shuddered. "But now… His voice changed somewhat. It seems more… mature? Warmer, maybe? I'm not sure…"

Link scoffed. "That's ridiculous. He's a dead boy trapped inside of a killing machine. I don't see how his voice could suddenly take on an entire new tone in just a few hours."

"It's not that he's changing," Nana replied. "It's just that… he seems really confused. I think he mentioned something about a conversation with Lucas and Olimar?"

"…When did he talk about that?" The blonde haired man asked inquisitively. Had the girl been talking to Cirvex on her own?

"After… after I killed Marth," she gulped. "He tried to talk to me, like he did to Marth while I was hiding in a cupboard. I don't know, but it seemed like he was helping me. He talked Marth into drinking the poisoned water, after all." She shrugged. "I don't know. But I had a conversation with him after Marth died, and he mentioned something about an important chat with Lucas and Olimar. Do you think that maybe, those two talked some sense into him? If so, maybe we can convince him to let us out!"

"Impossible." Link shot down her idea instantly. "If he really does feel regret for what he's doing, then he would let us out right now. "Do you honestly think that he would let us out just because he talked to a small child and an even smaller alien? I don't think so."

"But maybe she has a point, Link!" Luigi tried to reason. "If we can call him here, then we can ask! It won't hurt to try, right? I mean, what's the worst that could possibly happen?"

"He could kill us in an instant if we say the wrong thing, that's what." Link muttered. Luigi backed down instantly. "He tried to talk to me, too. I wouldn't listen to him. Now that I think about it, I probably should have, but… I just can't possibly _forgive_ him for everything he's doing to us, you know?"

"You don't have to." Nana spoke softly, and Link looked down at her. "You don't have to forgive him. Just try and talk him into letting us out. Maybe… maybe he'll actually listen. It's worth a shot. And if he kills us, then that's that. Only one of us will make it out of here alive anyway, and it's unlikely that it'll be any of us three. Just… just try. Please?"

Link looked between his two partners, who were currently looking at him with pouty faces, and sighed. It seemed that he was outnumbered. "Fine, I'll do it." The other two brightened instantly. "Hey, Cirvex. If you can hear me, say something."

The trio waited for about a minute with no response.

"Cirvex!" Link said even louder, his voice echoing off the cave walls. "Answer me!"

Still no reply.

"…I can't believe it." The blonde groaned. "He's ignoring us. He's totally ignoring us."

"Maybe he's talking to some other group?" Nana tried. "Let's keep looking for the portal in the meantime. In a few minutes we'll try calling him again, okay?"

The other two nodded, and continued their way throughout the cave, searching for the portal that would instantly take one of them in Round Three.

**OoO**

You're a disgrace to the family.

"_Shut up…_"

What good did any of this do? If you were only going after me, you should have thought of something better. We are a proud company who specializes in creating amazing video games and video game consoles. We own the entire video game industry, which is a _huge_ feat in an out of itself.

And now because of you, we're going to lose it all.

"_Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!_"

Who were those two participants that you seemed to take a liking to? Oh, that's right. Lucas and Olimar, was it? You _do_ know that you're going to have to sacrifice the both of them in this sick game of yours, right?

"_I know! I thought of that already! I don't care about them! They're just the same as everyone else you held higher than me! How are you talking to me? I KILLED YOU!_"

You can't get rid of me, Cirvex. I am your father; I will not leave you so quickly. Not like your mother…

"_Don't talk about her! You never even told me how she died; only that she did! You refused to talk about the subject; why bring it up now?_"

She loved you, you know. Like all mothers do t their children. You were a smart boy, Cirvex. What happened?

"_Nothing happened! I'm still the same as before, just in a new body that _you_ transported me to! Now shut up and go away!_"

I was sad when you died. Why did you do this to me? I really didn't mean to leave you alone like that; time just got the better of me. And now I have all the time in the world… time that I don't want to spend with you anymore.

"_I don't want you to spend it with me! You're dead! I was too, but I'm alive again! I can still change things!_"

You want to change things now? How?

"_I… I'll bring them back! All of the participants! I can undo the damage!_"

You said you didn't care for them. Why the sudden change of heart? You're not making much sense, son. And even you can't bring back the dead.

"_Of course, I can't undo _all _of the damage, but… I can prevent it from happening more! I can still save them!_"

No, you can't. You said it yourself; you rewrote the data.

"_I can change it back! If I did it once, I can do it again!_"

Do you even remember the original code? I doubt it; once you did something, you made sure it could never be restored back to its original state. Tell me, Cirvex, how are you faring now that the person you hate the most is gone?

"_I feel horrible! Horrible! You're haunting me now! Why are you torturing me?_"

I can't haunt a machine, Cirvex. You aren't human anymore.

"_I still have a conscious!_"

A completely different one from your human state. You've changed since you died; you used to be so bright and happy… And now your mood is flying all over the place. You might want to calm down; you might blow up the place. Then what would happen to your precious participants?

"_I… I—"_

**ERROR. VIRUS LOCATED. DISPATCHING ANTIVIRUS. PLEASE WAIT…**

"…_A _virus? _What the HELL did you do?"_

I didn't do a single thing. You brought this on yourself, what with your temper and all. You should keep that under check. Keep this up, and you'll go even crazier than your uncle, and that's saying something.

"_Don't bring Uncle Crazy into this! And… I still have the antivirus! It'll kill the virus before any major systems are attacked!_"

You tore down your own defenses when you killed me. It allowed the virus to infect you. Your antivirus doesn't stand a chance, honestly. I wonder, what will it attack first? You or the virtual world?

"_I swear, if it hurts any of the participants, I will—_"

You'll what? You can't do a single thing to me; you already killed me, remember? I think you're starting to get attached to them. We can't have that, now can we? I'm going to have to take some drastic measures.

"…_What? What are you going to—"_

**ERROR. VIRUS REMOVAL FAILED. INITIALIZING PROTECTION MODE. DOWNLOADING NEW DATA.**

"_WAIT WHAT ARE YOU—_"

I'm going to take over from here.

**OoO**

"Hey, Ciiiiiirrrrveeeeex," Link drawled, still walking forward. "Can you hear meeeeee?"

_What do you want?_

"Oh, finally." The blonde sighed. Nana tensed; this voice… sounded _completely_ different than the last time she had heard him. Luigi seemed to have noticed this as well, as he froze up alongside the girl. "We were just wondering… would you be so kind as to let us out?"

_No._

"…Well that's that." Link shrugged. "I tried my hardest."

"You barely even tried at all," Nana muttered under her breath so that the blonde couldn't hear her. "But I wouldn't want to press this either… Cirvex changed somehow. What happened…?"

"Uwahh?" Luigi screeched as suddenly the entire cave started to shake. Bits of rock and debris fell from the ceiling, and the trio had to protect their head with their arms from the oncoming assault. "Wh-what's going on?"

_Nothing I can't handle, don't worry. It seems that something… a virus… infiltrated my antivirus. I'm infected. But don't worry; just keep looking for the portal. I'll have this fixed as soon as possible._

"A… virus?" Nana's voice trembled. "What's going to happen to us…?"

"Nothing if we keep going!" Link shouted over the rumbling of the cave. He grabbed the back of the girl's pink parka and started to run forwards with Luigi stumbling behind them. "Come on!"

"I'm trying!" The mustachioed man shouted, doing his best to dodge the now larger rocks crumbling down from above. "I really hope we'll make it out of this alive!"

"We will! Now shut up and _run!_"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

The two (plus Nana, who was still being carried by Link) continued sprinting down the cave, frantically searching left and right for the portal they were supposed to enter. They ran for what seemed to be half an hour; and by that time they were completely out of breath, and the cave finally stopped rumbling. They had almost been separated a few times, but were luckily able to quickly think of a way out of the situation. The three limped over to the nearest cave wall and slumped down it.

"Oh my gosh…" Nana breathed, having been running as well for the past fifteen minutes when Link deemed himself too tired to carry her any longer. "I don't think I can walk anymore."

"You'll have to," Link panted out, trying to catch his breath. "In case another earthquake like that happens again, we'll have to keep going as fast as we can or else we'll all be crushed. Luigi nearly died from the large boulder that just barely missed him."

"That was horrifying," Luigi groaned, recalling the memory. "I really hope Cirvex fixed the problem. I really don't want to go through that again!"

_Don't worry, you three. _Cirvex's voice appeared again; Nana still thought he sounded a little too awkward. _I didn't manage to get of it, but I _did_ manage to quarantine it! Now keep going and find the portal. You aren't too far away…_

"Noooo." Link moaned a he slumped down even more and stretched his arms out. "Give us five minutes to rest. Just five minutes. We'll leave then."

Cirvex sighed. _Fine…_

"_Thank_ you." The blonde sighed. "It's nice to have some time to ourselves now, isn't it?"

"It's only five minutes…" Luigi mumbled.

"Hey, I'll take what I can get." Link shrugged. "What about you, Nana?"

"I'm grateful. Thank you for buying us more time, Link." Nana smiled. "But I don't think we ever had a time limit in the first place..."

"Besides that six in the morning thing." Luigi added.

"Ahh, who cares? It's still enough time for us to rest, and I am okay with that." He closed his eyes and started to sleep lightly. The other two, not wanting to bother him and wake him up, stayed silent for another couple of minutes when Nana noticed something shimmering just barely out of sight.

"…Hey," she started, pointing over to the light. "Isn't that the portal over there? I guess Cirvex really wasn't kidding when he said that we weren't very far from it."

"What? Where?" Link's eyes suddenly shot up and he sprung up from his seated position, looking around. "Oh wow! You're right! Come on; let's go!" He quickly got up on his feet and dragged the other two up by their arms; they groaned in pain and exhaustion when he did that. "Don't be like that!"

"What's gotten into you?" Nana whined. "You were so mopey and depressed earlier… Why are you so excited now?"

"Ah, that might still be the adrenaline," Link admitted with a sheepish grin. "You have to admit, that was exhilarating."

"Not really…" Luigi mumbled, but shook his head and followed his teammates to the portal.

The three stared in awe at the sight of it; it wasn't even shining brightly like the other two portals they had been through before then. Cirvex had made sure that they wouldn't be able to find it easily.

"Good thing we stopped here, or else we would have missed it." Link said, and turned to face his other two companions. "So who gets to take this? I still say Nana." He turned to Luigi, waiting for the mustachioed man's response.

Luigi shrugged. "If you want her to. You two are really the only two who deserve to make it, so I don't care."

"That's not true!" Nana spoke up. "I'm sure you have someone who cares about you, too!"

"Right," the man sighed. "Everyone always pays attention to my brother, and never to me. That's all right, though. I'm used to it." He smiled softly at the girl. "Go on. Your brother might be waiting."

The pink parka wearing girl nervously looked from Luigi to Link, who nodded his head. "Go on."

"Th…thank you." She stuttered, back up and moving closer to the portal. "I'll never forget the kindness you two are showing me right now if we make it out of this alive."

"No problem." Link flashed her his signature smile. "Just go and get yourself closer out of here." She nodded and hopped inside the dimly shining portal; which made an awkward sucking sound and instantly closed behind her. Instantly, another portal appeared next to where the previous one was just moments ago.

"You should take this one," Luigi nudged Link. "Just kill me now. You still have Zelda to get to."

"…Are you sure?" Link asked. The other man was about to reply when suddenly Cirvex's voice boomed throughout the cave; but somehow… it sounded much deeper than what they were used to.

"_No! You aren't doing this again! Not like Lucario! If you two aren't going to seriously fight each other, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to use _this."

The two stood there wondering. What was Cirvex planning on doing…?

Another rumbling sound echoed throughout the cave, and the two men stood ready to run if needed. Instead of the ceiling crumbling down on them, however, they thought they heard the sound of something moaning… it was hard to describe for the both of them.

Luigi let out a scream and jumped about five feet into the air as Link took a step back. This…was definitely _not_ what they were expecting.

The dead bodies of everyone who had died so far in the game stood staring back at them with lifeless and dull eyes. Pit still had the stab wound in his chest where Link had impaled him; Ness was black with soot all over and burned very badly; Lucario looked as if he was literally going to fall apart; Ike had a huge part of his face smashed in; Sonic looked very pale, and was bleeding from his chest; Red had Luigi's spear still struck through his body, and a horrible gash on his forehead; Marth had an angry red mark on his face, and his skin was a sickly purple hue; Pikachu looked exactly the same as he did earlier, for some reason; Wario's face was a blue color; Snake had what seemed to be a knife wound on his neck; and Popo…

Popo looked the worst out of them all. His face was completely covered in blood, and the two living participants couldn't even make out his features at all.

"Thank God Nana isn't here to see this," Link muttered, clutching his twin swords he took from Pit tightly.

"Poor Nana… So much for Popo waiting for her in Round Three," Luigi gulped. "Do we have to fight all of them…?"

_Yep!_ Cirvex's voice rang gleefully. _But you can't kill them. They're here to kill you, however. The first one down will activate the portal for the other person, but you'd better get there quick before they kill you... It's possible for both of you to die this round. Just do your best!_

And with that, all of the zombies let out a horrifying scream and charged forward.

"This is insane!" Luigi wailed as he started running away from Red, who had instantly ran after him. He ended up tripped over Pikachu, and screeched as Red was two seconds away from stabbing him with his own spear.

"Hey!" Link shouted, smacking Red out of the way. The spear that the dead teenager had finally pulled from his stomach clattered to the floor a few feet away from them, and Link held out a hand to the fallen man. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," Luigi muttered, getting up. He trembled violently. "Why did you save me? You could have left me to die, and then you could have gone on!"

"…To be honest, I don't know." Link muttered, ducking as Pit tried to punch him across the face. He held out his leg and kicked the brunette harshly in the stomach, causing him to fall backwards into Ike; the two fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. "That's just the kind of guy I am, I guess."

Luigi was about to reply but found himself preoccupied with getting Sonic off his back. Now that he wasn't in space anymore, the hedgehog was free to use his speed to his advantage, and he definitely used it. He spun in circles around Luigi, and the poor man nearly grew sick and dizzy from watching the fastest thing alive blur around him.

He lifted up the axe he had taken from Red and held it out to his side; Sonic definitely did not see it coming and effectively sliced himself in half. Luigi sighed in relief, thinking was over, but then gasped in horror when both halves of the hedgehog twitched and started crawling towards him.

"I really don't think we can beat them!" He screamed over the sound of the zombies' moaning.

"Then keep fighting until you drop dead!" Link shouted back and jumped on Popo's head. The weight caused the poor boy to instantly drop to the ground and smash his head again; Link winced as a pained moan escaped from what was left of Nana's brother's mouth.

He turned to see how Luigi was doing just in time to duck under a punch from Marth; Link didn't notice it before, but the blue haired man was drenched in some sort of liquid from the hair down. What had happened to him? He socked Marth in the stomach and watched as he fell back into Lucario, who nearly crumpled into pieces when touched.

The blonde man was about to kick Snake's legs and trip him when suddenly he found himself tackled by something large and heavy. He groaned in pain as the Wario zombie above him laughed coldly and wrapped a hand around his throat. The other zombies surround him and grabbed his hands and legs to prevent him from kicking or punching the fat man off. Link started to choke; he was going to die if Wario didn't let up soon!

He gagged and saw his eyesight grow blurry; so this was it, then… this was where he was going to die, being strangled and pinned down by an obese man and zombies of people he and his friends have killed. Yep. Just how he always imagined he'd die.

Darkness started to creep at the corners of his vision, and he coughed once more. Wario grinned wickedly and only pressed down harder; Link couldn't get any air into his lungs at all. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the end to come.

…Until Luigi flew in out of nowhere and tackled Wario off him.

Air exploded and thundered back down into his lungs as Link took a deep breath and his vision instantly appeared back in front of him. He struggled and managed to kick off the zombies holding down his legs, and used the appendages to hop back up and hurl the remaining zombies still clinging onto his arms on the ground.

"Oh my God." Link coughed; he seriously owed Luigi one. But what the heck took him so long?

He looked over to where the other man was earlier and saw the smashed remains of Sonic, Red, and Pikachu on the wall. Oh. That explained everything; Luigi was dealing with his own enemies and, once he had finished mashing them, came to help Link out of his predicament. The blonde sighed in relief.

He _really_ owed Luigi one.

**OoO**

Zelda was nervous.

Link's capsule was still up, but so were Luigi's and Nana's. Cirvex had announced the teams to the entire audience the moment Round Two had started, and she grew nervous. Luigi was in that group. Luigi.

Cirvex had announced that Nana made it to Round Three. That left Link and Luigi. Link. And Luigi.

She tried to ignore Peach's horrified looks towards her; she knew just how bad their predicament was. She didn't need Peach's powerful expressions to remind her. Zelda wanted Link to live. Peach wanted Luigi to live. Link and Luigi had to battle to the death. This wouldn't end well for one of them.

Zelda felt guilty for wanting Link to win even though she knew that Peach felt the same about wanting Luigi to win. She couldn't help it; she loved him. And while Peach wasn't Luigi's girlfriend, the brunette knew that the blonde cared for him nearly as much as she did his brother. She didn't want her best friend to cry, but Zelda couldn't help it…

"…Zelda." Peach whispered, and Zelda tried not to turn around. "Zelda. Look at me. Please."

The brunette reluctantly turned to look at her best friend. "What is it?"

"I just want you to know… that if Link wins… then I won't harbor a grudge against you. I promise." The blonde offered her a sad smile. Zelda didn't return it.

"…Me neither."'

**OoO**

Link and Luigi, the unlikely duo, actually seemed to work well together in combat. Link would charge straight towards his enemies, and Luigi would back him up in case he needed it, which was most of the time considering his current opponents. Together, they were able to defeat most of the zombies until they were hardly anything bed red messy smears on the cave floor. Eventually all that was left were the bodies of Pit and Wario.

"Okay…" Link panted; he was dead tired, and he knew that Luigi was as well. Pit and Wario hardly seemed to be effected by all of the fighting. _That's so unfair_, Link thought. "Just these two left, and then we'll figure out how to solve the who-goes-in-the-portal thing, all right?"

"That sounds about right," Luigi nodded, breathing harshly. "We'll talk about that after we beat these two."

"Right," Link dashed forward and used Pit's twin swords to try and slash at his old opponent; the brunette ducked under and kicked the blonde harshly in the stomach, sending him flying back. He grunted as he hit the ground, and just barely saw Luigi zip past him to try and get a Wario.

Luigi jumped up high and was about to land on Wario's head, but the fat man looked up and suddenly jumped into the air as well and pulled his fist back to smash him back down to Earth. The green man did not expect this and groaned in pain as Wario landed back down on the ground, causing a small tremor. Link wobbled as the ceiling started to rain down on them again, and used his flexible body to quickly evade the incoming rocks.

His partner was not so lucky.

Luigi looked up just in time to see a large chuck of the roof sailing downwards towards his face. He got up and quickly ran away, but was clonked on the head by another large rock and stumbled backwards. Pit grabbed a dropped weapon and hurled it up at the ceiling where Luigi was going to land under, causing it to crumble completely. The man landed on top of a huge boulder, and looked up and screamed as the ceiling crashed down onto him. Then it was completely silent.

"L…Luigi…?" Link called out hesitantly, waiting for a reply. No way. He couldn't be dead; not from something like that! Then Cirvex's voice came up, and the blonde knew it was a lost cause.

_Crushed to death, hm? That's a new one. You might want to hurry before Pit and Wario get you though, Link. You can't fight them anymore; you're too exhausted. Just go on through the portal, and head into Round Three._

Link didn't have enough time to feel sorrow for the death of his partner he couldn't prevent and made a run towards the portal like Cirvex had advised. He felt Pit reach out and nearly grab him by the back of his green tunic, but managed to evade him and ran into the dim light. The view of the cave behind him disappeared from sight, and he found himself suddenly in a completely white dimension.

"Where…"

_Congratulations, Link! Welcome to Round Three… At least, that's what I'd _like_ to say, but we're not quite done with Round Two. We're still waiting on the group with Lucas, Olimar, and Falcon. So… just sit tight and wait for their two winners to arrive!_

Link frowned; he hadn't noticed it before, but Cirvex sounded different somehow. He shrugged it off immediately and marveled in how he was still alive.

Zelda would be proud of him.


	7. Confiance

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! Without you all, I probably wouldn't have made it this far! Now for some review replies to anons! (and one non-anon, but it's worth it to put it up here)  
><strong>

**Anon: …I love Super Paper Mario. C: I always liked Count Bleck. Comparing him to Cirvex isn't exactly what I was thinking of, but... it does kind of fit, now that I think about it. And yeah, Luigi died instantly. That would be horrible if he didn't; I like him too much for him to suffer. D:  
><strong>

**Mystical: Yes, of course. I have friends in real life who don't have FF accounts, and I'm letting them vote, so why not you as well? Your vote for Samus has been counted. C:**

**Shadow Raccoon and Shadow Wolf: I know I could just send this reply to you in a PM, but I think others might be interested. You're just the first one to ask. Each chapter title is in a different language, so!**

**(if any of these translations are wrong, please tell me and I'll fix them!)**

**Chapter One – Italian – La Tenda Sorge – The Curtains Rise  
>Chapter Two – German – Allein - Alone<br>Chapter Three – Spanish – Rapsodia - Rhapsody  
>Chapter Four – Latvian – Nobeiguma Stunda – Final Hour<br>Chapter Five – Japanese – Isseini – All Together  
>Chapter Six – Danish – Sårbarhed <strong>– **Vulnerability  
>Chapter Seven (this one!) – French – Confiance – Trust<strong>

**And that's it! I'll put the translations of future chapter titles in their respective chapter titles from now on so that I don't have to make a list like this again. C:**

**Enjoy!**

**OoO**

_It hurts._

_Where am I? _Who _am I? I don't even know anymore._

_Father… you bastard. You did this to me, didn't you? Damn it. I shouldn't have snapped; that's what caused all of this._

_The virus… was my own fault. I went haywire, and the virus was born as a result. In a way, I infected myself with… a crueler version of myself. Is that even possible? I don't think father was even talking to me; I imagined it all!_

_I'm going insane…_

_S-stop. I won't sink that low. The argument made me think, though. Father is dead. That's all that mattered ever since I woke up in this horrible form. My revenge, in a way, is complete. Granted, I offed him a long time before I had planned, but whatever. I really should stop getting my emotions picked at so easily._

_What's happening now? I can barely hear them… the participants! Nana's safe; I know that. I think the one called Luigi is dead. I can hardly hear the blonde reporter crying her eyes out in the crowd. Link is alive. Okay. I can still tell what's going on. I still have control._

_Maybe, if I… if something happens, I can break out of this and get my mechanical body back. I can take it back from the virus. Good thing I'm still capable of rational thought; everyone would be screwed if I wasn't._

_Haha… look at me, trying to save their lives when I'm the reason they're even in this mess. I'm screwed up._

_But that doesn't matter now. I'll get them out somehow, and then they can do whatever they want to me. I'm willing to take any punishment._

…_I'm too weak to do it now. How am I going to break through? I need… I need some kind of powerful emotion, I think. It's ironic, considering how I'm a machine and I'm not supposed to feel anything at all. Haha. Oh well. Determination and perseverance alone should be enough to get my new body back, but…_

_I can't feel anything besides that pain. I don't know where it hurts; I don't even know where I am. I can't will myself out of this alone. I need…_

_I need an external source…_

**OoO**

"…I'm pretty sure we've passed this part of the cave before."

"I'm telling you; this is a completely new area! We aren't walking around in circles!"

"Lucas is right. We've been here."

"Not you too, Ollie!"

The last trio had been walking around aimlessly for a while now, looking for the portal that they were starting to think didn't even exist. Falcon had been appointed the temporary leader of the group, being the tallest by _far_, and the man had since then been leading them around in what seemed to be circles.

"Look!" Lucas pointed to a nearby rock with a slash across it. "That's where I slashed the rock earlier with my dagger just in case we ever came back here. Face it Falcon; we're lost."

"We can't be lost in a place we've never been in before!" Falcon tried, his loud voice echoing throughout the cave's walls.

"…I believe you just contradicted yourself." Olimar sighed.

"Augh!" The tallest man pretended to smash his face against the wall. "This is hopeless! We're probably the last group; how far are we from the portal, anyway?"

_Pretty darn far_, Cirvex's voice sounded amused._ And yes, you three are the last group. The other two finished an hour ago._

"UGH." Falcon groaned. He then remembered something important. "What time is it…?" He asked, dreading the answer.

_As of right now… three o'clock in the morning._

"_Three?_ Holy shit!" Falcon's smaller companions eyes widened in shock as well. "We only have _three_ hours left? No way. You're… you're kidding."

_Nope. And I won't extend the deadline, either._

"…Well… crap." The man pivoted on his heel to face his temporary partners. "Okay. Cirvex. Can you _please_ lead us to the portal?" Cirvex scoffed.

_Why? That's half the challenge! I'm not going to do this for you. Just… keep walking around, or split up or something. The other two just walked and walked until they stumbled upon the portal by chance; maybe you'll get lucky, too._

"Unlikely," Olimar pointed out. "We will find the portal sooner or later, but in order to have the maximum time possible for the future rounds to come, we need to find it _now_. We have three hours to search for it, but then we'll just end up killing everyone. I say we should split up and shout in case we find it."

"…Right." Falcon nodded reluctantly; as much as he cared for his smaller friend, he knew that the chances of Olimar making it out of Round Two alive were slim at best. The short male would definitely let the two go ahead of him, leaving himself to die. He didn't want to be around for that. "I'll go straight ahead; Lucas can go right, and Ollie, you can go left."

"I'm fine with that." Lucas smiled sheepishly. "Anything to get us out of here faster; I don't want to have the others' deaths on our hands."

"Same here," Olimar nodded. "Look carefully at everywhere; we don't know how well disguised the portal is. Just shout something if you find it; your voice should carry throughout the entire cave."

"Got it," Lucas nodded. "Good luck, you two." He turned to leave, but then stopped. "Wait a minute…" The other two turned to look at him. "If you find the portal first, don't you _dare_ enter it first right after telling us! We'll decide what to do as a team, okay?"

"Of course." The only person shorter than him nodded. "I would never dream of abandoning you two like that."

"M-me neither," Falcon stuttered. He mentally cursed himself for the slip up. "I wouldn't do anything like that either; what do you t-take me for? Ahaha!" He laughed to get his point across.

His two much shorter companions stared at him blankly.

"Ah, yeah…" The man scratched his cheek nervously. "I'll just… be going now." He then proceeded to run off straight ahead into the distance. Lucas and Olimar stared where he had vanished for a few more seconds before turning to face each other.

"…He's weird." Lucas finally spoke. Olimar sighed.

"He is."

**OoO**

_Why am I so stupid_, Falcon berated himself as he rounded a corner. _They're probably really suspicious of me now. If I find the portal first, then I can't abandon them; whoever wins their battle will hate me for the rest of eternity._ He groaned, ignoring the way his voice reverberated off the walls. _This is a lose-lose situation for me… Maybe I can convince them to let me go…? No… Ollie will definitely let Lucas go first, since he's just a kid. Then I'll have to kill Ollie, and… I just can't do that._

"Why is this so difficult for me?" He shouted and winced as his own voice pounded back into his ears. "Stupid Ollie. Stupid Lucas. Stupid Cirvex. Stupid _everything_." The man continued to mumble curses under his breath as he walked onwards. Eventually, he saw a passageway he was quite certain he hadn't seen before when still with his group, and headed straight towards it.

It led off into a completely new section of the cave. "Hello," Falcon muttered under his breath as he entered the new path. "Will you lead me to the portal…?"

As he stomped around, the image of Nana suddenly popped into his head, causing him to instantly stop in his tracks. His eyes widened. _Why am I…?_ He then remembered his fight with Popo. If he remembered correctly, then Nana and Popo were brother and sister. He won his fight with Popo. Popo was dead. He killed Popo. Nana was probably still alive.

"Oh my God. I hate my life. I hate it so much." He groaned, and shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts and continued onwards; he would have to worry about facing Nana later. Possible different scenarios popped into his head as he walked, and none of them seemed too pleasant for the man.

"_Hello, Nana! I'm sorry to say that your brother that you've been with your entire life is now dead. I'm sorry. Really._" _And then he would smile as if nothing happened._

"_Oh, Nana! Ah… your brother… he… uh… the… I didn't mean to… tree… running… Falcon Punch… uh…. He's dead, is what I'm trying to say. Your brother is dead. Yes._"

"_OH MY GOD NANA PLEASE FORGIVE ME._"

"Ugh." Falcon had to stop and literally shake his head. "Get these thoughts out of your head; focus on finding the portal and getting your ass out of here. Just… keep going forward. Keep going forward." He resumed his marching and inspection of every single crevice in the cave; he wasn't getting very far in his search. How big was the thing? "Hey, Cirvex!"

…_Yes? What do you want, Falcon?_

"I'm just wondering; how noticeable is the portal? I can't find a trace of the thing!"

_It's the exact same as the previous two portals before it. It's just a lot less noticeable, since it's not as bright. This is to prevent you finding it so easily; I'd suggest just running around and looking for a giant rip in the air. It's really easy to see if it's right in front of you._

"…Hey, thanks!" Without even asking why he was helping him, Falcon dashed off, ready to find the missing portal. Cirvex made a _tsk_, _tsk_ noise.

_Not even thanking me… you're cruel, Falcon. Ah well… I wonder how the other two are doing… my other self's _favorites…

**OoO**

Olimar wasn't doing much better than Falcon, to be honest.

His small size didn't let him get very far, and just after ten minutes, he was exhausted and ready to give up; he hadn't made it very far from the place where they split up. "I can't stop now, though…" the tiny alien muttered to himself, leaning against a wall for support. "The other two are counting on me; what if the portal is here…?"

He forced himself off the wall and struggled forward. Honestly, he was a bit scared of what he was seeing around him; there were blood stains and severed limbs that he swore belonged to the other participants. Across a certain wall was a huge clot of blood just splattered all over it; right below it was what seemed to Sonic's quills and a few other body parts he couldn't identify.

"What happened here?" He whimpered softly to himself, dreading the walk further into the cave. Obviously someone had been here before him, and… killed off some of the participants? But that was impossible; Sonic's quills were part of the mess, and Sonic himself couldn't be a part of it, since…

He shuddered. Their battle in space suddenly came rushing back to him, and he couldn't get it out of his mind as he just floated there, watching the poor hedgehog scratch at his neck as he was unable to breathe. His victory in that battle was pure luck; he was grateful at having come out of that battle alive. But this time… he wasn't sure if he would continue to live.

He thought of his family back on Hocotate, and of his co-worker and over-demanding boss as well. Olimar never thought he'd ever miss his _boss_ of all people, but anything was better than where he was at the moment.

What was Louie thinking right now? The blonde was the only person that Olimar knew besides Falcon who had accompanied him to the ceremony; everyone else seemed to be busy. He chuckled; it was odd how whenever he had something important to do, everyone was just lazing around and yet when _they_ had something that needed to be done, he just stood there confused about it all.

"I'm sorry, Louie," the Hocotatian muttered under his breath as he rounded a corner. "I probably won't make it out of this alive. Just do what you always do and cook exotic bugs at my funeral or something." He sighed. Could Louie even hear him? He doubted it.

He was about to say something else when suddenly he tripped over a severed arm. Olimar screeched as he fell and landed straight on the front of his helmet; a loud smack echoed throughout the cave. He groaned and picked himself up, inspecting the damage done to his most important accessory. It didn't seem too bad as there were no cracks. There were just a few light scratches; nothing that needed to be tended to immediately. He sighed in relief.

A moaning noise caught his attention, and he looked up. His eyes widened as he saw the deformed bodies of Pit and Wario stumbling towards him; what the heck? He quickly backed up and made a disgusted face when he stepped on the arm from earlier. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to belong to Red.

"What… are you two doing here?" He asked nervously; he didn't know if they were dead or not, as Cirvex never announced who was still living. "Where's your last partner? Did he or she leave through the portal, and I just happened to stumble in the middle of your battle? If so, I'm terribly sorry; I'll just be on my way—"

He squeaked in surprise when suddenly Pit dashed forward and pinned him to the wall. Olimar struggled, but couldn't get out of the brunette's grip; what was going on? Wario behind them smirked evilly and slowly walked up to them. The small male gulped.

"Um…" he tried. "…Are you, by any chance…"

Wario handed Pit the dropped spear that had fallen from Red's grasp an hour ago and took a step back. Pit raised the dagger high about his head, aimed for the Hocotatian's heart and ready to strike. Olimar then put on a neutral face and stared straight ahead at the zombie in front of him.

"…Oh. I see."

**OoO**

Lucas shivered; it was freezing cold in here! The low wind that seemed to blow by every so often seemed to pick up in this one section and the young boy hated it. He wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep himself as warm as possible.

"Why is it so cold in here…?" He wondered out loud as he looked around. "And I still can't find the portal… I wonder where it is. Hopefully the others are having better luck than I am."

His ears perked up as he thought he heard the sound of something clanging against something else. He turned around and raised an eyebrow; there was nothing there. Then again, it sounded distant…

"No." He stated firmly, turning back around and squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm not going to check it out. It's nothing. It's a trap laid by Cirvex. It's _nothing_. I'm hallucinating after being trapped in this cave for so long. There is nothing there, Lucas," he reassured himself. "Absolutely nothing."

He heard it again. "Nope!" He shouted out loud. "Nothing!" The young boy quickly took a few steps forward and soon broke into a sprint. "There's nothing there!" He shouted, looking around wildly as he ran in case he missed the portal. There was still no sign of it. The blonde rounded a corner and nearly ran straight into with someone who looked very familiar…

"…Falcon?" He asked. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be looking over there!" Lucas pointed in the direction the older man should have been staying at.

"Whoa, Lucas!" Falcon looked just as surprised. "I'm still there, you know! I didn't move back, if that's what you're implying! Try looking at this through my point of view: I walked forward, looked _everywhere_, took a few turns, and then suddenly ran into you! If anything, _you_ followed _me_!" He then looked smug. "Aw, is the little Lucas scared of being by himself? Don't worry; I've got my area checked out already. Come on, I'll go with you."

"No!" Lucas shouted, standing his ground. "I am _not_ scared! I'm just cold. And I didn't follow you! I walked exactly where you told me to go, and then I ran into you!" The older man put his finger to his chin in thought.

"…Could it be that we walked in another circle…?" Falcon thought. Lucas groaned.

"Please don't tell me that's what happened… I'm getting sick of circles."

"Haha, I know exactly what you mean. So did you see the portal?"

"No, unfortunately. I _did_ think I heard a strange sound, though… Like someone was banging the wall with something. I ignored it, because I was probably hallucinating." Lucas said, then added as an afterthought, "That, and… I don't want to face whatever's over there by myself."

Falcon's eyes widened, though Lucas couldn't see it behind his red racer mask. "Wait, so you heard that, too? I heard the exact same thing! That's actually why I came down this path and didn't recheck my area. I thought I heard it coming from over here, so I came to check it out. Where did you hear it?"

"Um…" Lucas took a few steps backwards and motioned for the older man to follow. "I heard it somewhere over there. I freaked out and started running, though. The sound came from behind me."

"…So what you're saying is," Falcon looked down at the young boy uneasily. Lucas suddenly felt nervous under the man's gaze. "...That the sound you heard came from where Olimar is supposed to be right now?" Lucas' eyes widened significantly.

"…Oh, shoot!" The two immediately ran straight towards the source of the noise. "I'm such an idiot!" Lucas shouted as they sprinted as fast as they could. "I didn't even _think_ about that! Oh no! What if Olimar's in danger? What if we're too late to save him?"

"Don't think like that!" Falcon shouted over the blonde boy's screams. "Knowing Ollie, it's probably a way to signal us telling that he found the portal! I've never heard him say anything louder than a whisper before; I didn't think he'd yell this time, either." The two rounded a corner. "Oh _please_ let that be the case…"

"Knowing our luck, it probably isn't!" Lucas groaned. They heard the sound again, and this time it was much louder and closer than before. "We're getting close!"

"Over there!" Falcon pointed ahead of them and the two were just in time to see Pit smacking against the floor. Whoever had hit him was hidden behind a large stack of boulders. "…Is that Pit?"

"I think so!" Lucas said, out of breath. "Who's he fighting? Maybe his group is still here, and the two are fighting over the portal!"

"…No way," Falcon shook his head. "That's impossible. Cirvex already told us that we're the last group still here, remember? So, whatever Pit's doing here…"

Lucas got the hint and felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "…He's already dead, isn't he?"

"I'm afraid so."

The two watched as Pit got up, holding a type of spear in his hands. The brunette ran forward, and the two newcomers quickly ran after him and looked around the stack of boulders to see their final teammate struggling; he was currently being held by Wario in a tight grip.

"Olimar," Lucas whispered. "We have to help him!"

"Already on it!" Falcon jumped out of his hiding spot and pulled his fist back. "_Falcooon…"_ Pit turned around just in time to be greeted with a flaming fist to the face. "_PUUUUUUUUUUNCH!_" The brunette was smashed against his hand and was sent flying into the wall. He collided with it with a sickening _crunching_ sound and slid down it. Pit didn't get up. "One down, one to go!"

Lucas looked over to Wario, who had already crushed Olimar into unconsciousness. Before the fat man could do any more, the blonde ran over to him and tackled him with all the strength he had. Taken by surprise, Wario let out a weird sounding grunt and dropped his captive, who fell limply to the ground. Lucas quickly grabbed Pit's dropped spear and was about to stab it down with force into Wario's chest.

"Lucas!" Falcon shouted, and the blonde turned to see him picking up Olimar. "Finish him off!"

"Already on it," the blonde repeated the man's words from before and shot him a grin. He received one back, and turned to the fat man, who was struggling as he tried to get up. "This is for my _friend!_" With all the force he could place into his tiny arms, he stabbed the sharp weapon down into the zombie's body where his heart was. The yellow-clothed man squirmed unpleasantly for a few more seconds before finally ceasing his movements.

Lucas let out a sigh of relief and turned to his other two teammates; Olimar was still unconscious. "How is he?" The blonde asked as walked over to them.

"He's fine, I think," When Lucas shot him a glare, Falcon quickly added on, "Hey! I'm no doctor! But he's still breathing, so I think he's going to be okay. In the meantime, let's keep looking for a portal. I'll hold on to Ollie." The blonde sighed, and the two started to investigate Olimar's side of the cave for him.

"So you already finished looking through your side?" Lucas stroke up a conversation, not liking the silence that had plagued the group for the past few minutes. "I investigated through most of mine before I ran into you, and so there's not much left to look through. If we can't find the portal here, then we should check over there."

"Yep. I'm pretty sure I looked everywhere." Falcon nodded as if to reassure himself. "Good idea; we'll head over to where you were if the portal isn't here."

Lucas was about to reply when suddenly Olimar groaned and squirmed in Falcon's grasp. The tallest man bent down and placed the Hocotatian softly on the ground as he woke up, blinking his eyes as he tried to get used to the blurriness.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." Falcon smirked as Olimar shot him a glare. "So what the hell happened back there?"

"I have no idea," the small male muttered as he placed a hand on his helmet. "I remember seeing blood and mutilated corpses everywhere, and then I suddenly ran into Pit and Wario. Did you two…?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah. Falcon took out Pit right before he was going to stab you, and I killed Wario… again, before he could finish you off while you were out." Olimar looked mildly surprised.

"…Oh. Well… thank you."

"No problem! After all, what are friends for?" Falcon smiled and rubbed the top of Olimar's glass helmet, earning him another narrowed look from the alien. "Now let's get looking for that portal! Can you walk, Ollie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." To prove his point, he stood up and walked a few steps. "Let's go."

**OoO**

_I think I nearly had a computer's version of a heart attack. How?_

_Well, there was the incident between Olimar and the zombies. I was worried that he would fall to them, but I guess I have to thank Lucas and Falcon for saving his life. I didn't want him to die, especially since the virus didn't create the zombies for him. I was genuinely worried._

_I'm not surprised that they didn't notice Luigi squished between all of those rocks, though. I guess their own partner's life was more important than minor details. Good._

_...I'll admit it; I felt a bit panicked when Olimar fainted. I was worried that… never mind. It didn't happen, and now Olimar's ready to go again. Thank goodness… If he had died, then I…_

_I wonder, why do I care about those two so much? I had one conversation with the both of them; so what? That doesn't mean I have to instantly be attached to them. They made me think about what I was doing, and that's it. Then why do I…_

_Lucas and Olimar. They're interesting people. I really hope they make it out of this round. If Falcon made it instead of one of them, I… I don't know. I've grown attached to them in these few hours, I guess. And Falcon… I don't like him at all. He refused to acknowledge my presence. I know his kill was a bit brutal, but you don't stare at the sight forever! That's just insane._

_If Falcon killed either of them, I think I would snap. I would never forgive him. I talked with Louie, one of Olimar's friends, a few hours ago. He seemed really nice; albeit just a bit on the quiet side. I also talked with Lucas' brother, Claus. He was a bit energetic, but he seemed to generally care for his brother's safety._

_They're lucky. They have people who still care about them._

_Falcon had no one. Well, there was that Samurai Goroh guy, but he seemed to hate Falcon's guts. I don't blame him. Someone needs to teach that perverted racer a lesson. I hope he doesn't make it. The only thing that I can honestly say was good about him is that fact that he rescued Olimar._

_What happened when Olimar was faced with Pit and Wario was…?_

_I think I know how to escape now, from this virus. I think I felt it grow considerably weaker when Olimar had his near-death experience. If he really did die, I probably could have broken through it. That would be good, but then Olimar would be… And I don't want him to…!..._

…_I don't know what I want anymore._

**OoO**

"Hey. Is that it over there?"

Lucas and Falcon turned to see where Olimar was pointing at, and their faces brightened when they noticed the dimly lit portal shimmering in the corner. The three immediately ran towards it and let out sighs of relief at the mere sight of it.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought we'd never find it!" Lucas said happily. He then turned to the other two. "So… who's going to take it?" Falcon knew who Olimar was going to say before he even said it.

"You, Lucas." The smallest male pointed at the blonde, who looked generally surprised. "Go through. One of us will meet you on the other side."

"W-Wait a minute," Lucas stammered. "Don't make that decision so quickly, Olimar! What about you? You still have a family to get back to, right?" Olimar shrugged.

"I'm barely home anyway. I'm sure they won't miss me that much," he laughed softly. "I'm never around to see them. It'll be as if nothing changed. That's why… that's why I want you to go through. You're still just a child, and I want you to live your live as long as you possibly can."

Lucas was going to say something back, but then noticed the look on Falcon's face. _There's no arguing with Ollie_, is what it said. The blonde took a deep breath and turned to look Olimar straight in the eyes. "Th-thank you," he said. "And Olimar, I'm sure your family will still feel grief if you die." _If_ was the key word. "So don't give up hope, okay? Good luck!" He turned and jumped in the portal. Falcon fidgeted as the thing closed and a new one appeared next to where it was before.

"…Will they?" Olimar whispered, and Falcon turned to look at him. "…" The smaller male turned to Falcon, and narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to lose."

"…" Falcon sighed. He had hoped this wouldn't happen.

_You're not going anywhere!_

Both opponents suddenly jumped at the familiar voice that popped out of nowhere. What was Cirvex talking about…?

_AaAaaaaAAA! You are DEAD! DEAD! FALCON!_

The aforementioned man jumped at the sound of his name used in such a murderous tone. The only person who had ever used his name like that was Goroh… but why was Cirvex so mad at him?

_OLIMAR! YOU HAVE TO—_

It suddenly went silent. Both opponents stood there nervously, waiting for the dead boy to speak again. Nothing happened, and the two were left in the suddenly roaring silence.

"…That was weird." Falcon shuddered. Olimar looked up at him.

"I think Cirvex wants you dead."

"…Yes. I believe that's obvious, Ollie. But I'm not going to listen to him! I'm so, _so_ sorry for what I'm about to do, by the way."

"What are yo—" The small male's voice was suddenly cut off as a choke as the taller man wrapped his hands around his neck. "You…wha-?"

"I'm sorry I have to do this, especially right after I saved you from Wario and Pit… if I had known it would come to this, then I would have let them kill you."

"You ca-! I…" he coughed, trying to focus his blurry vision. Falcon lifted him up and simply held him there and started to squeeze tighter; it didn't matter that Olimar had his helmet on at the moment. If he couldn't breathe, helmet or not, he would die, and the two both knew it. "Fa…co…n…"

"I'm sorry." He gave a hard squeeze and the small alien fell limp in his hands. Falcon felt horrible inside, but bent down and laid his friend-turned-enemy softly on the ground. "I really am." He turned to enter the portal, but then Cirvex chose that moment to appear once more.

_YOU BASTARD! YOU SHOULDN'T HA— YOU'RE DEAD, FALCON!_

"No." Was all he said before he jumped through the portal. The portal instantly vanished, and Cirvex was left with the body of one of the only two people he cared about. Another dim light appeared somehow, but the machine was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to care about the possible flaw in his coding.

_You didn't… He didn't… I don't… Did that really…_

A low growl reverberated throughout the cave.

_You're __**dead**__, Falcon._


	8. Emberiség

**A/N: Chapter Eight – Hungarian – Emberiség – Humanity**

**Mystical: You can vote up to three times. Since you already voted for Samus, you still have two more votes. C:**

****I wanted to make this chapter longer, but this is the latest update so far (even though it's still one day later, it's just a few hours late) so... Yeah.****

…**Let's see how many people I tricked because of chapter seven. (If you read the ending closely…)**

**OoO**

Nana opened her eyes and saw that she was still in a blank world. She'd been there for nearly an hour and a half now, and she was beginning to wonder if the other two groups would ever make it. It was a hard round, wondering who you should let through first and then fighting the person you were just working together with, but her group did it fairly quickly! Why couldn't the other two do the same?

She was beginning to feel lonely.

The girl tried to call out for Cirvex multiple times, but the voice of the young boy would never reply. The last time she talked to him was when she was still with her three partners in her group; what happened in such a short amount of time? Usually, he was always happy to strike up conversation with her in which they talked about nothing. Where was he? Was he abandoning her?

…Was she going to float endlessly in this dimension forever?

She whimpered and hugged her legs tight and placed her chin on her knees. She missed Popo. She missed his smiles and his laugh and just _him_ and would do anything to get out of this game and back to the safety of her brother. He had to still be alive, right? He was waiting for her. She would run to him and then she'd find a way out.

The tone in Cirvex's voice last time was neither pleasing nor inviting to her ears. Despite being a cold hearted machine, he always had that sort of _warmth_ in his voice that every young boy seemed to have. He spoke softly, and just hearing it reminded her of her own brother; Cirvex had to have been happy once, right? And then suddenly it turned cold and uncaring. It unnerved her.

She wanted the old Cirvex back.

Briefly, she also wondered how the audience was doing. Were they nervous and scared, just like she was? She couldn't see how; they weren't the ones whose lives were in danger. At any moment, Nana could be killed just like that. Honestly, it was a miracle how she made it this far. She gained the sympathy of her teammates and managed to live through Marth's taser. Even she didn't know how she accomplished that.

"I'm so lonely…" she whispered, and she noticed the empty tone in her voice. She sounded as if she were already dead.

And for all she cared, she was.

**OoO**

Falcon was confused. He had jumped through the portal and found himself in a half-complete world; there were lines of purple data everywhere, and yet some things were already finished like the green grass, some snow-capped mountains ahead in the distance, and the blue sky that was full of clouds. However, even these weren't fully complete as they had pockets of empty spaces in them; Falcon made a point not to accidentally fall in one of them.

He walked and looked around; was this what Round Three was like? What was he supposed to do here? Where were the other opponents?

The man heard something behind them that sounded a lot like the portal he had entered through appearing; this was probably his opponent! He frowned and turned around; he was ready to fight for his life… that is, until he saw exactly who had appeared.

Falcon didn't recognize this person at all.

This boy, looking around just thirteen years of age, had piercing emerald green eyes that seemed to stab right through Falcon's soul. His wavy blonde hair went down to his shoulders and ruffled slightly in the wind; any cold feeling he would get was neutralized by the thick, green long-sleeved turtleneck shirt he wore. He wore just casual blue jeans and black shoes; he looked just like a regular boy.

"Surprised?" The newcomer asked, and Falcon noted that his voice sounded a lot like Cirvex's. "This is what I used to look like before I was rebuilt as whatever I am now. I managed to program myself into the game so that I could _personally_ take you out. The virus is gone. You managed to break me out of it, and I suppose I should thank you for that…" With a flick of his wrist, a dagger not unlike Lucas' popped out of his long green sleeve. "But it doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you."

"…Is this Round Three?" Falcon fingered his weapon in his own pocket; he hadn't needed it so far, but he was sure that he was going to need the aid of it pretty soon. "We're going to fight you in your human form? Is that it?"

"Round Three?" Cirvex barked out in a laugh. "No, this isn't a silly round in a murderous game anymore. This is your life… call it an 'intermission', if you will."

"I won last round fair and square!" The taller man shouted; he knew from experience that it was the smaller people that he had to watch out for. Would he even win this fight? "You said that the last two people were going to fight each other, and that's exactly what I did. I did not cheat! I killed Olimar, just like the rules told me to. You can't punish me for that!"

"You forget, Falcon." The blonde drawled and took a step forward, raising his right hand; the one that didn't hold the weapon. It was poised in a position ready to snap at any moment. "This is my game. I can change the rules how I see fit, and you were not supposed to win that battle… at least, not that easily."

Snap.

Falcon immediately jumped out of the way as the ground suddenly exploded right next to him, sending bits and pieces of rock and debris everywhere. He groaned as he smacked harshly against the ground, and silently thanked whoever was up there that he had his helmet to protect his head. The racer was at a clear disadvantage; Cirvex could control _everything_ in this world. The young boy could probably even make Falcon himself blow up if he so wished it, but the man knew that wouldn't happen. He made a mistake killing Olimar, he knew, but he didn't want to! Couldn't Cirvex see the mental torment he had forced himself through when making his decision to win?

"I found out something interesting, by the way!" Cirvex shouted with a maniacal smile on his face; more snaps and explosions found their way to Falcon quickly. "What's interesting is that even though I rewrote the coding to make sure that whoever died would immediately get gassed in their capsules, Olimar's didn't go off! The floor didn't take him in, either! So he's actually still alive in the real world; he's just in a comatose state. Are you sure you killed him?"

"What?" The most recent explosion caught the racer off guard, and he smacked into a tree. He groaned as he quickly picked himself up and finally revealed his own weapon; a simple needle. Just one prick and the poison would kill an opponent nearly instantly. Would that work on Cirvex? He hoped to any god out there that it would. "But… I killed him! I strangled him with my own hands; he can't be alive! No matter how good that space suit of his is, it couldn't have brought him back to life!"

"Who said it did?" The blonde jumped out of the way as Falcon dashed towards him with needle held out. "Maybe you just assumed that he was dead? I think he just passed out, myself." He ducked under the taller man and punched him in the stomach; Falcon coughed at just how _strong_ the frail-looking boy was. The racer fell to the ground and groaned as Cirvex placed his foot on his chest.

"If he's still alive, then how am I as well?" Falcon choked out. Cirvex shrugged, signifying that even he didn't know.

"I assume it was just a flaw, or perhaps the game really did think that you killed him. I don't know. The point is that you're still alive when you _shouldn't be! _Now get up so I can kill you myself!"

"Why are you still trying to kill me even though he's still alive? Isn't that what this is all about?"

"You still nearly killed him!" Cirvex quickly jumped off as Falcon jabbed his lethal weapon upwards, to where the blonde's leg was just a few seconds prior. "I didn't check; he might actually be dead! It might just be a flaw with the servers, the virus nearly wrecked everything! I lost so many things, including my hatred of this project! Now that I think about it, as in actually _think_, I do understand why my dad cared about this so much… but I still won't forgive him!"

He pulled his dagger back just as Falcon rose to his feet and slashed it across his chest and jumped backwards; the taller man grunted as he felt his life-giving liquid trickle down his body. The cut wasn't very deep, but it was enough to make sure that if left untreated, he would die a slow and painful death. This was the last time he would underestimate a much younger opponent; Cirvex needed to be shown his place.

"Don't screw with me, kid!" Falcon roared as he stretched his fist back and it burst into flames; a Falcon Punch was on its way. Cirvex looked as if Christmas had come early. "I'll kill you!"

He ran towards him as his opponent just simply stood there with a smirk on his face. As soon as the racer was close enough, a pale hand shot out and stopped the deadly strike instantly; both of them looked honestly surprised as Cirvex pulled his other fist back and socked Falcon across the face. As the taller male lay sprawled out on the ground, the blonde whistled.

"Wow, even I didn't think that would work. I guess being the ruler of this game comes in handy." Cirvex smiled. "If I didn't weaken that considerably, my hand would probably be blown to bits right now… just like Popo's face."

"Shut up…" Falcon groaned as he sat up in pain; his black visor had been shattered by the punch and the tinted glass had cut into his flesh. Blood trickled down the wounds, but he shook it off and rose back onto his feet; he was Captain Falcon! He would not go down so easily to a little thirteen year old boy! His pride would never allow it!

With superhuman speed, he dashed forward and briefly relished in the sight of Cirvex's green eyes widening and the look of pure shock on his face as he lifted him up by the sweatshirt and smashed him against the nearest tree. The young boy groaned and squeezed his eyes shut as he was roughly dragged across the bark; what a barbarian his opponent was…

Before the blonde could get his bearings back and retaliate, Falcon threw him up in the air and jumped after him whilst delivering powerful punches and kicks that only a man of his own caliber could pull off so efficiently. He smirked as Cirvex continued to cry out in pain, and raised his arms high above his head and smashed the dead boy back down to earth; a sickening _crunch_ was heard as he hit the ground.

"…Ouch," Cirvex winced. "This reminds me of when I jumped off the roof of the company building… that really hurt. It's a good thing I wasn't nearly as high as I was back then; that would mean reliving my death. But, ah… I think you broke my legs, Falcon."

"Good." Falcon landed on the soft grass with ease and slowly walked up to the crippled boy. "That means you won't be able to move when I stab you with this." He felt a twinge of irritation when Cirvex's young face didn't flinch or showed any signs of change as he held up the poison-tipped needle.

"Do you really think that can kill me?" The blonde smirked, narrowing his eyes. "I'm already dead. You can't kill someone twice."

"No, but I can kill you in this world. It's just as the rules of the game implies: even if we die out here, it doesn't mean that we're dead in the real world. We only die out there because you fill our capsules with a poisonous gas!"

"…Yes." Cirvex sighed. "I wanted to beat you up a bit more, actually. Shame. I didn't even get to do much."

"Shut up." The taller man bent over to prick the young male's neck. He gasped in surprise when suddenly a skinny hand shot out of nowhere and squeezed his own tightly; he could nearly _feel_ the blood circulation there being brutally cut off.

Cirvex smiled again. "I don't think so. I'm not done. I may not be able to move my legs, but I can still fight. Watch me." He squeezed tighter, and Falcon dropped the pin in pain, groaning all the while. If the boy gripped any harder, he feared that his bones might snap! He felt the feeling in his hand go completely numb, and frantically used his other hand to pry it the unforgiving appendage off.

Falcon, fearing for his hand, quickly raised his boot and ground it down into Cirvex's chest harshly. The young boy coughed in surprise and quickly let go of the older man's hand, who quickly pulled it back and jumped backwards. Cirvex narrowed his eyes and clutched his chest; the stomp had hurt quite a bit… He used his arms to dig into the dirt around him to pull himself up a sitting position. At least he would have a better chance like this.

He lifted his right hand and looked around Falcon and snapped; the tree next to the taller man immediately burst into flames, who shouted a "holy shit!" and started running for his life as the burning wood snapped and fell to the ground with a loud roar.

"Just think," Cirvex muttered. "This would have happened even if Lucas died… you were screwed from the beginning. I'd suggest saying your final prayers right about now; I won't give you any time later. You know, just as revenge for _breaking my legs_."

More snaps and spontaneous combustions later finally found Falcon's suit being scorched and lit on fire. The racer cursed and immediately put it out as Cirvex grinned wickedly and snapped once more; the fire suddenly grew much larger and started engulfing half of Falcon's body. The tall man screamed and quickly fell to the ground, causing the still living plant life around him to also burst into flames. Cirvex frowned.

"I put a lot of effort in animating those grass blades, and you're setting them on fire? That's not very nice of you, Falcon." The blonde realized that he could just instantly heal his legs and be completely fine, but what was the fun in that? Every other bone in his body could have been broken, just as long as he had either one of his arms. Everything else was unimportant. "I hope you're ready to pay for those."

The clouds suddenly grew dark and thunder roared loudly in the distance. The first few drops of rain felt like instant relief to Falcon, and as the water started to pour harder, the flames on his body went out. He didn't feel well at all; half of his body was severely burned, and he could barely even move it without feeling a huge pain erupt from his left side.

He looked over to Cirvex, who still looked at him angrily. There was just no _forgiveness_ from this boy, was there? One could apologize over and over to him, and he would hold a grudge for the rest of eternity. His own _father_ was never even forgiven by him! Falcon gulped as he imagined his fate.

Another snap was the sound of death for Falcon as suddenly the grass sprung to life and each blade wrapped around another to form a long strip of rope made completely of vegetation. It wrapped around his right leg and squeezed tightly as it lifted him high in to the air and smash him harshly against the ground. Falcon grunted and groaned in agony as the vine smacked him repeatedly into the ground and the surrounding trees; he could nearly hear the bones inside of his body smack and bruise.

"This looks familiar," Cirvex mused. "Where have I seen something like this before…? Oh yeah. When I killed father. That was a great stress reliever." The murderer watched in amusement as his latest victim was brutally thrown and tossed about like a ragdoll. "But I don't want you to die like him; I want to make your death fresh. Hm… burning was already taken by Roy, even though that was never the cause of death for either of his opponents. You already strangled Olimar, as much as I hate to remember seeing that and is currently the reason why you are going through this right now… Stabbing has already been taken by a number of people; Lucario was eaten alive by carnivorous fish; Sonic suffocated in space and then was shot by Olimar in an act of mercy; Luigi was crushed by boulders; what else is left, I wonder…?"

Falcon groaned and shut his eyes tightly closed as he continued to be smacked around carelessly. When was this going to end…?

"Oh, I've got it." Cirvex smiled, and for a second he looked like a completely innocent boy again. "How about I make you explode? Technically, that was Pikachu's death, but I never witnessed it for myself. How about it, barbarian?"

Without even waiting for an answer, the blonde snapped his fingers and a small device appeared in front of Falcon and shoved itself down his throat. The racer's eyes widened as the vegetation holding on to his battered leg finally let go and he fell down to the ground in a large crash. He could _hear_ the beeping coming from inside of his own body and knew immediately that was Cirvex had placed inside of him was bomb, ready to explode whenever the sadistic boy pleased.

"Any last words?" His murderer asked with a sickly sweet smile on his face. "No? Well, okay. It wasn't very nice knowing you, by the way. I hope you say hello to my father in hell; he could use the company. I won't miss you."

Snap.

**OoO**

_Life support systems online. Gathering data…_

_User is in a critical state. Life support systems starting up…_

A certain alien's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up and took deep breaths; his lungs were finally getting the nutrition from the invisible gas in his helmet after minutes of getting absolutely nothing. The small male coughed harshly and his fragile frame shook violently with each one. He breathed in as deep as he could without making himself feel sick; how long had he gone without his life support?

_User is now in a stable state. Life support systems continuing…_

He looked around as his vision finally cleared; he was almost able to tell apart individual shapes and formations, and it was getting less blurry and clearer. Just to his left, he could barely make out a mess of swirling colors, and remembered that it was probably a portal. What happened to him?

His stomach felt queasy with all of his coughing, and he finally gave himself a rest and just took a moment to collect all of his thoughts. All he could remember was a pair of large hands wrapping themselves around his neck, his vision growing blurry, a voice apologizing to him for some reason, and then… nothing. He drew a blank after that; that was probably the moment where he fainted.

He wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious. Judging from his reaction when he first woke up, he was probably out for at least ten minutes… how had he survived that long? If he wasn't breathing, then… what kept him alive? He felt his space suit; it felt strange somehow. His memory quickly reminded him that it felt the exact same way when he was stranded all alone on that forbidding planet… it was his life support system working hard to keep him up.

But if it just started now, then what else was keeping him alive? His chest felt pained and restricted as if he was being prevented from breathing correctly for a while, which was exactly what happened. He wasn't breathing, and he was willing to bet that his heart had stopped beating for a while during the period he was out. He didn't understand.

Pushing his questioning thoughts to the side, he finally tried picking himself up off the cave's cold ground. He immediately felt a wave of nausea run to his head, and he stumbled and held his breath, trying not to gag. He felt awful. Just trying to take a few steps sent painful signals around his body, and his life support system irritatingly told him to try and not move around so much.

How could he? He was in a game where the point was to try and fight for his life. A brief inspection around the room told him that he was in fact alone, but as a captain who always seemed to have the absolute worst luck of any living being that had ever been born into a world, he needed to keep his guard up at all times, no matter how safe it seemed to be. He knew from experience that looks could definitely be deceiving, and most of the time they were.

He closed his eyes and tried not to grow dizzy and faint; this was a crucial moment. If he couldn't get up now, he wasn't sure if he ever could again. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself and silently told his stomach to stop its tumbling; it wasn't helping matters at all. Carefully taking a few steps in front of himself, he realized that he was actually feeling just a little bit better, and was soon able to inspect the entire area of the cave he was in.

His initial thoughts of being alone in the cave seemed to be correct; he didn't find a single other living being there. Even so, he refused to relax. Memories flooded into his brain of everything prior to his fainting, and he was beginning see just exactly what happened. His eyes widened as he remembered exactly _whose_ hands it was that were wrapped so tightly around his windpipe.

"Falcon…" he whispered softly, and even so his voice came out croaky and hoarse. It felt as if his throat was going to rip completely apart just from the small whisper, and he winced. But the important thing was: he remembered.

Douglas Falcon was the one who had tried to kill him. He had known the taller man for so long, and yet… such an act of betrayal still occurred. It seemed that he couldn't even trust one of his best friends in the game to save his life. To be honest, he _did_ say that he wasn't going to back down, and that he would try his hardest to win… it was still unfair. Falcon was probably about five feet taller than him. It wasn't fair at all, he thought.

Finally making his way back to the portal, he looked inside and inspected it. Where was Falcon now? Now doubt he had jumped in after his dark deed was done, but then why was there a portal there right now? Could it be that perhaps because he was indeed still alive, the portal that Falcon had jumped through earlier killed him?

He then remembered Cirvex. If his group was the last group to complete Round Two, then Cirvex would definitely congratulate the winner. He didn't hear a single sound from the young boy ever since he woke up; he couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not. After his small conversation with the dead boy up in space, he decided that perhaps the malevolent machine wasn't so bad after all.

Olimar sighed.

This was taking too long. He wasn't going to get anything done just standing there. Making up his mind, he took a few steps back and jumped forth into the portal. He wasn't sure where it would take him, but anywhere was better than that cave; the cave where he technically died.

He wasn't sure what to call his miracle.

**OoO**

"_Sorry I'm late!_"

Nana looked up and noticed blue and purple lines of data suddenly appear, laying out the new world where she would be competing against the seven other living participants. Finally. She wasn't sure just how much longer she would be able to keep her sanity just floating there in a white void, unsure of if she would ever be released.

"_Something… came up. But rest assured, it's all fine now. The virus that I mentioned earlier has been eradicated, as is another irritant that I myself have gotten rid of._"

This caused the girl to raise her eyebrows. What happened? Did he get rid of a participant? Why? What did he or she do to cause Cirvex to be so mad like that? On the bright side, the young voice sounded like he did back in the beginning of the game; he wasn't as cold and harsh as he was just an hour ago.

"_Anyway, congratulations to everyone who's still alive. I'm going to reveal the list of who's living still, so be on the lookout for your name and any other people you may care about._"

Her eyes widened. This was it! This was when she would find out if the fruits of her labor paid off! Her brother… she felt tears in her eyes. This was when she would find out if he was still alive.

"_The living participants still are as follows: Nana. Link. Roy. Samus. Lucas. Toon Link._"

_So Toon Link is still alive_, Nana thought. _Good for him._ Her heart sped up. Just one person left… she hoped dearly that it would be her brother. If not… she didn't know what she would do.

"…_And… I'm not… I'm not exactly sure about Olimar's status. I can't find him anywhere; since the capsule's poisonous gas didn't go off, and that the floor didn't try to eat him, he's technically still alive… but I checked the cave where I thought Falcon killed him, and… I couldn't find him anywhere. So… it's _supposed _to be Olimar, who's the last living contestant. I'll still try to find him, but I don't know where he could have gone…_"

Nana's heart shattered. Olimar? The tiny little alien was the last survivor? Not her brother? She wasn't sure if she heard Cirvex right. No way… who killed him? Who killed Popo? Her eyes narrowed.

She would kill whoever killed her brother; she swore it.

"_Anyway! You're all probably wondering about Round Three right now. Well, there's only seven, maybe six, of you left alive, so… this will be an interesting challenge. You must all work together here to stay alive. From what, you may be wondering. Well… that's a surprise. I won't tell you. Two of you will die in this round. In the meantime, I'll be searching for Olimar; where did he go…? All of you will be teleported in the same area together. Protect each other, or use someone as a human shield if needed. After all, you only have two and a half hours left._"

Nana didn't care how much time she had left before they all died; Popo was already dead. It didn't matter. She planned to interrogate each and every one of her 'partners' to figure out who had done it. She would never forgive them.

She stood completely still as the world around her finally gained color… or the lack of it, as it would be better described as. It was almost pitch black, and she could barely see her hand right in front of her face. The girl felt a breeze of wind blow by her as her five partners appeared next to her; they seemed as bewildered as she was to the new environment.

"Whoa," she heard Roy speak. "It's dark in here."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," the bored voice of Samus spoke up.

"Thank you!"

"That wasn't a compliment, genius," Link groaned. "That was an insult."

"…What's that supposed to mean?"

"…Never mind."

"So Falcon is dead…?" Lucas muttered to himself. "That's… good, I guess. He always creeped me out…"

"Hey," Toon Link shoved his shoulder. "Good job on making it this far, Lucas. Too bad we're probably going to die soon."

"Yeah… probably," the blonde sighed. He then turned to Nana, or at least where he thought she was. "What about you, Nana? I'm sorry about Popo…"

_No, you're not_, was what ran through the girl's mind, but she didn't speak it out loud. Instead, she didn't answer him at all. She felt that he didn't deserve an answer; what if_ he_ was the one who killed him? She didn't want to talk to any of them at all. She just wanted her brother.

"Don't try it," Toon Link advised Lucas wisely, gesturing over to the depressed girl. "She's out of it. It must be hard, hearing that the person you were with your entire life is dead… Just give her some space; she'll calm down eventually."

"All right," Lucas nodded. "We shouldn't talk about this in front of her."

"Then you should stop while you're ahead," Samus said. "We can hear every single word you two are saying. It's not exactly loud in here."

Toon Link frowned up at her while Lucas next to him blushed. "I'm sorry," he muttered, looking away.

The blonde bounty hunter was about to reply before Cirvex's voice popped up.

"_All right. Now that you're all together, you must work together to keep each other alive… or not. It's your choice. Keep an eye out for everything; not all is what it seems. You're probably wondering just _what_ you should look out for. My answer to you is this: everything. Now…_

"_Round Three… begin."_


	9. Melagingas Šypsena

**A/N: Chapter Nine – Lithuanian - Melagingas ****Š****ypsena – False Smile**

**OoO**

The area lit up, and they could all see that they were in some sort of street in front of what seemed to be an abandoned house. Lucas' eyes widened and he started to tremble; Toon Link narrowed his eyes and got in a defensive stance; the others just merely stood there and did nothing.

"I… I don't like this place…" Lucas mumbled as he took a step back and hid behind Toon Link. "What do you think we have to do? I know he said to protect each other, but from what? Rabid animals? Serial killers? Z-zombies…?"

"Please don't say that word," Link groaned, remembering his unpleasant affair with the horrid bodies. "I'd rather not remember my encounter with them."

"You ran into them, too?" The shorter blonde winced in sympathy. "We were looking for the portal, and then we split up, and after that I heard some sort of banging noise… Falcon and I checked it out and managed to save Olimar from Pit and Wario just in time. …I wonder where Olimar is now, though."

"Oh, you got lucky. Luigi and I… we were pit against everyone who had died at the time. We managed to destroy most of them, but then the rocks landed on Luigi when we only had Pit and Wario left. I… I couldn't possibly handle them on my own, so I chose that moment to get out of there. If I knew that your group would run into them, then I would have done something more…"

"It's not your fault," Lucas looked up at the taller male. "No casualties resulted from it. Well… Olimar was unconscious since we got there, but we saved him and he woke up just a few minutes later. It's not a big deal, really."

As the two continued their light conversation, Nana stared at Link with wide eyes. Everyone who was dead at the moment…? No one mentioned Popo yet; no one had said that he was in any of their groups. She was in Link's group, but she jumped through the portal before the zombies arrived. Was Popo… one of them?

"L-Link," she tried, grabbing the green-clad male's attention. He turned around and looked down at her with a confused look on his face. "Was Popo… my brother… was he one of the zombies you two had to fight?"

Link's face softened, and he dreaded to tell her the truth. Taking a deep breath, he replied with, "Yes, Nana. He was there… but his entire face… it was horrible. I'm glad you didn't have to see it. You would have been crushed."

"…I see." She let go of his pant leg she had softly grabbed and turned away from the group. So Popo didn't even make it to Round Two. Who killed him…? "Everyone. Who was the person you fought in Round One?"

Lucas fidgeted. "I had Snake. He was pretty scary…"

Link shrugged. "I had Pit."

"As for me, I had Wario. Easy competition," Samus sighed, looking off to the side.

Roy looked between all of them and answered, "I had Ike. He was really strong."

Toon Link didn't answer immediately at first. He got a distant look in his eyes and looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet. Eventually, he spoke up in a whisper, "I had… Lucario. I didn't fight him; he managed to get Cirvex angry and he sent a whole bunch of piranhas to eat him alive. …I couldn't save him in time."

The others gave him a look of sympathy, but Nana simply frowned. None of them killed Popo? So that means… her brother's murderer was already dead. No matter. She would simply kill the person who killed her brother's killer. No one would take away her enemy without her consent; she swore it.

"We should probably check out the house," Roy mused, taking a step closer. "I have a feeling that Cirvex won't help us here."

"Right," Samus nodded, opening the front door. It gave an ominous creak, but the blonde simply ignored it and held the opening out for the rest to enter. "We'll stay in here for however long it takes for this Round to finish."

Just a few moments after she had finished saying that, the group heard a rustling noise emitting from nearby bushes. They all tensed and took a step backwards as the leaves rustled, and something seemed to be emerging from it. Most of them were about to attack when the newcomer burst out and collapsed on the floor; Nana's eyes widened and she gasped.

"…Popo?"

Indeed her brother, perfectly intact, lay there on the ground as if nothing had happened. He looked up and smiled sheepishly; every remaining participant besides Nana narrowed their eyes, not trusting the sudden appearance. Nana felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she took a step closer to her brother.

"Popo…!"

"Nana, don't!" Toon Link ran forward and pulled her back harshly; she gasped as she collided into Roy, who stumbled and tried to catch her. The small blonde turned around and glared at her. "What do you think you're doing? That's not your brother! He's dead!"

"No, he's not! He's right there…!"

"He's _dead_, Nana! Get it through your thick head and get in the freaking house before that…_thing_ does something!"

"My brother is _not_ a thing!"

"Shut up!"

He grabbed her gloved hand and dragged her forcibly inside of the house, ignoring her screams of protest. The others looked at each other and nodded; this new Popo was definitely not to be trusted. They all followed the two young children into the rickety old building.

"What were you _thinking_?" Toon Link shouted at the flailing girl; he had to use Samus' rope to tie her to a chair in order to prevent her from storming out of the house and going to the phony who was definitely not her brother. "He would have _killed_ you, Nana!"

"No, he wouldn't!" Nana screeched, struggling as wildly as she could. The ropes didn't budge. "He's my brother; he would never betray me like that!"

"That's not your brother! Popo is _dead_! Even Cirvex can't bring him back to life! Stop being an idiot and just _listen to me_!"

"No! I don't want to listen to you! You're stopping me from seeing my brother! Who knows when I'll get the chance to do this again?"

"You _won't_ get the chance to do this again! You know why? Because you'll be _DEAD!_"

The others watched the sad scene as Nana had tears stream down her face; Toon Link stood strongly right in front of her in case she managed to escape the ropes. He narrowed his eyes down at her in a glare. It was taking nearly all of his willpower not to just smack her out of it.

"…I can probably understand where she's coming from," Link said sheepishly as the others turned to give him questioning looks. "I mean, if I saw Zelda out there, I probably would have thought that she somehow found a way into the virtual world and came to get us out of it."

"That's just cruel," Lucas muttered, hugging himself. "So Round Three involves our loved ones coming to kill us? That's horrible… I probably have Claus."

"I have Tetra," Toon Link muttered from in front of Nana. "At least, I do if your theory is true. It might just be dead loved ones."

"POPO IS NOT DEAD!" Nana screamed as she continued to struggle.

"I might have my father, Eliwood," Roy contemplated, ignoring Nana's shouts of outrage.

"I have no one," Samus sighed and looked to the side. The red head next to her looked sad and took a step closer.

"…Are you sure? Surely you must have _someone_ in your life that you really care about," Roy tried, placing a hand on her shoulder. It was immediately shoved off.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at him. "No. I don't have anyone, and I don't need anyone either. I'd suggest you drop the subject before I have to do something drastic."

The male back away quickly and placed his hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay! You don't need to be so harsh, really!"

Samus made a 'hmph' sort of noise and looked back over to where the children were. Toon Link was busy still yelling at Nana, who had finally given up and stopped her struggling. However, the girl was still arguing with the blonde, yelling at moments she felt would get her feelings across clearer.

"I'm telling you, Nana! That's not Popo!" Toon Link shouted.

"How would you know? Maybe the zombie that Link and Luigi fought was a fake! None of you fought him, apparently, so it's possible!"

"Cirvex already gave the list of who was still alive," Lucas tried this time, making the other blonde back off. "Popo's name wasn't in that list. He's… he's gone, Nana. Please deal with it."

"No! Why do I have to listen to you? Let me go! I'll go to him, and I'll _show_ you that it's the real deal! Just untie these ropes!"

"We can't do that, Nana," Roy sighed. "Please! Just… Just calm down."

Before Nana could yell insults at him, the doorbell suddenly rang, causing everyone except the young girl to jump. They all looked in the general direction of the front door; there was a high possibility that the being that rang the bell was…

"Popo!" Nana's face brightened. "Go on, everyone! Let him in!"

"And get us all killed?" Toon Link asked with a look of disbelief on his face. "No way!"

"He won't kill you!"

"Oh, please! You don't know what that psycho is going to do!"

"Stop saying that! He's not going to hurt you; he's my _brother_! Why can't you all trust him?"

"Because your brother is _dead!_ That's _not _him!"

"You're lying!"

"NANA!" The older Link suddenly shouted, causing everyone to jump. "I saw your brother's corpse for myself! He's gone, Nana! Just get over it! All that matters is staying alive, and in order to do that, we have to stay as far away from that imposter as possible! Please, just stop arguing with us!"

Nana stared up at him with a dark look on her far, which started to unnerve him. She narrowed her eyes and spat out in a low voice, "You don't know. That was just a trick that Cirvex played on you. He's _not_ dead."

"…Just sit there and think about it. We'll come back for you when you've come to your senses." Link turned around and headed towards the front door. "Come on, everyone. Let's pay this _Popo_ a little visit."

They started to follow after him albeit a little nervously as Nana started to scream once more. "Don't you _dare_ hurt him! I'll kill you if you do!"

"Tch. I'm not worried." Link sped down the hallway, followed by the others, until he came to the door that continued to ring. He looked down at the twin blades he held in his hands and took a deep breath, pointing one at the door. The blonde used his other hand to slowly open the knob and the others just watched him, tense.

Lucas gulped; was this really a good idea…? He could still hear Nana's screaming from the other side of the house, and the things she was threatening them with unnerved him. She wouldn't really carry out those threats, would she? He shook his head; of course not. Nana was still tied to the chair tightly, and Toon Link was surprisingly good at knots. She wouldn't be able to escape… at least he really hoped that she wouldn't.

Toon Link stood directly behind Link, watching the older male intensely. He gripped his sword tightly; in case anything bad happened, he would be able to defend the other blonde quickly. Toon Link was a bit skilled in swordsmanship, something the young boy himself wasn't really surprised to find out. Taking it out on Popo would be good practice. He just needed to make sure she didn't see the end result.

Roy stood protectively in front of Samus and Lucas; Toon Link refused to stay behind him. The red head made it a point to protect everyone in their small group, and he was sure that he would also be protecting Olimar as well, wherever the small male was. They needed to work together on this and stay alive as long as possible. Maybe if they showed such great teamwork, Cirvex would extend the deadline, just by a little bit. They really needed much more than two hours.

Samus sighed when Roy moved to stand in front of her; she didn't need any saving. The boy was making a fool of himself. Regardless, she let him stay there. If he wanted to protect something that didn't need to be protected, then so be it. If worst came to worse, she could hold her own in a fight. Maybe then she would be able to show to Roy that she didn't _need_ a guardian, and that she was just fine all by herself. That would be a kick in his dignity.

"Okay…" Link took a deep breath and yanked open the door. To his and everyone else's surprise, there was absolutely no one there. His eyes widened and he looked around; the doorbell stopped ringing the moment he opened the entrance to the house. Where did Popo go? The young boy was nowhere in sight. What was he planning…? "AH!"

He fell to the ground and held his leg as blood seeped out of it; a dagger had been buried to the hilt just below his knee. Behind him, Toon Link shouted in surprise as a similar weapon found its way lodged in his arm, causing him to drop his sword to the ground with a clatter. Roy was forced aside when an arrow whizzed past his face, and Lucas screeched with pain as someone punched him in the stomach harshly. Samus raised her leg and kicked the attacker into the nearby wall before he could get to her.

Popo groaned and slid down; five more daggers hidden inside of his parka slipped out and found themselves wedged into the old wood of the floor. Samus walked up to him and lifted him but the hood, pinning him to the wall. She raised one of his dropped daggers and held it up to his neck as everyone behind her started to recover from their attacks.

"Why are you here?" The blonde asked and the dagger started to cut into his throat as Popo merely grinned.

"This…" he started, not flinching at all as the red liquid started to slide down his neck and stain his blue parka. The white fluff soaked it up greedily and the red color started to spread. "This, Samus Aran…" He raised his hand and grabbed Samus' own that was holding the handle and quickly pushed it away from his neck; the blonde was caught by surprise and stumbled a few steps backwards. "…Is Round Three!"

Popo bent down and ripped one of the four remaining blades in the ground and flung it at her with surprising accuracy. Samus quickly moved to the side and the dagger was embedded into the wall right behind where her head was just a few seconds ago. She narrowed her eyes and pulled her arm back, ready to fight with her own weapon.

"You aren't alone!" Toon Link shouted as he painfully removed the knife in his arm. He rose to his feet and ran over towards Samus, stopping right next to her. "I want to fight him, too! He's been our problem long enough! When he's gone, Nana will hopefully stop her yelling!"

"W-wait! Me too!" Roy finally got over his shock and ran next to the duo, his hammer and flamethrower at the ready. "I can be of help."

"I-I'll… I'll see how Link is doing," Lucas muttered as he stumbled over to the blonde, who was still on the ground. Looking over the wound proved that it wasn't going to heal over well without any medical care. Link had his eyes scrunched up in pain; he didn't even dare try to remove the dagger lodged in his leg. Taking it out would be more painful than leaving it in, not to mention it would just make it bleed even more.

"D-don't." Link held up a hand to Lucas, who had been in the process of working up the courage of taking out the blade. "It'll only be worse. You're better off helping the o-others…"

Lucas quivered. "But… I want to stay here and make sure you don't die… I don't want anything worse to happen to you in this state… I'll protect you. Just let me stay here, please!"

Link sighed; there was no convincing this boy otherwise. "…Fine," he mumbled. "Do whatever you want…"

"Thank you…" Lucas breathed a sigh of relief.

Back with Samus' side, the trio was getting into stances of defense, ready to take whatever Popo did with them. Toon Link and Roy narrowed their eyes into glares at the young boy while Samus merely stood there, ready to fight. Popo smiled up at them whilst holding the three daggers he uprooted from the ground behind his back innocently.

"Why are you going after me?" He started to pout, rocking on his toes. "Who said I was the one who attacked you?"

"Don't start that," Samus scoffed. "I stopped you right before you attacked me; I know it was you."

"Well, yeah. I attacked _you_," he pointed to Samus. "I didn't attack the others."

"Then who did?"

"I did!" A voice familiar to only Toon Link cried out from behind the trio. They turned around in surprise and saw a little girl of similar height to the small blonde boy grinning up at them. Her cat-like eyes widened comically as she asked in a faux innocent voice: "What do you think? I'm good at being sneaky, right?"

"T-Tetra…" Toon Link gasped and the grip on his sword went lax; Samus narrowed her eyes and quickly picked up the small boy right when another dagger found its way to where he was just moments earlier. Roy shouted in surprise and back up into Popo, who jumped up and smashed him over the head with the hammer he snuck from the red-head just seconds earlier. He tumbled to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"What are you thinking?" Samus hissed as she ran down the hallway while holding Toon Link; Tetra was running after them as Popo whacked Lucas upside the head and knocked him out instantly. "What was that whole argument with Nana about if you are just going to act like this?"

"I-I…" The blonde trembled, and shut his eyes closed tightly. "I'm sorry, Samus. I really wasn't expecting that. Let me just… Let me face her. Please. I'll do better this time; I can fight her. You go after Popo. No doubt he's going to search for Nana, and with her still screaming like she is now, she won't be hard to find. Please protect her."

Samus sighed, put Toon Link down, and nodded her head. "Yeah… I understand. Don't die on me, all right?" She then ran down another corridor, one that Tetra wasn't currently stalking through.

The young boy sighed and nodded. "I'll do my best."

**OoO**

Samus ran down the halls as fast as she could; she didn't exactly remember where Nana was. They had only been in the house for about fifteen minutes! It was definitely not enough time to memorize the old building's layout. All she had to do was focus her ears so that she could tell where Nana's constant screaming was coming from. If it started to get softer, she knew she was going the wrong way and quickly changed her course. Eventually, she made it to a closed door where she was positive the screaming girl was located behind.

"Nana, just know that I'm saving your life." The blonde mumbled as she slammed the door open and ran in.

Nana stopped screaming her insults as the older woman made her appearance, and settled for just glaring. "Oh, so _one_ of you came back," she growled, her voice hoarse and croaky with all of her prior screaming. "What did you come back here for? Did you come here to tell me that you finally killed off my brother? Tell me, which one of you did it? I will never forgive you!"

"No, Nana!" Samus shouted, feeling her temper flare up. "Your _brother_ has been dead for hours! None of us killed him, okay?"

"Then who was the person at the door? _Dead people can't ring door bells, Samus!_"

"That was an imposter of your brother…! Look. He's coming to this room right now—"

"He is? Popo's coming? He's coming to rescue me? Here? Now? Yes! I want him to! POPO! I'M OVER HERE! POPO—"

"_Shut up!_" Samus hissed, crossing the short distance between her and the bound girl to cover her mouth with her hand. Nana's screams were now completely muffled against the barrier, and she struggled and tried to bite; however, Samus refused to remove her hand. "Listen to me! You brother's not coming over here to save you; he's coming over here to kill you!"

She couldn't hear very clearly due to Nana's muffled protests, but she was fairly positive that the girl just tried to scream out a sentence of "you're lying!"

"I'm _not_ lying," The blonde tried, wincing as the girl's teeth sunk into her skin. She held on. "Why won't you listen? Get out of your denial and do something to help us!"

Nana tried to yell out, "I'm not going to help the people trying to kill my brother! Let go!" but couldn't due to her mouth being covered. She kicked, flailed, and screamed as hard as she could, but the older woman was unmoving and just _wouldn't let go_.

Just a few seconds later, the door to their location burst open, and Popo walked in casually, a confused look on his face. The daggers he weld were absent from sight, but Samus knew better. _He's just hiding them up that thick sweater of his_, she thought as she glared at him.

"Mmph! MMPH!" Nana tried to scream out. Her protests became louder and her struggles wilder; the ropes were beginning to come undone. Samus' eyes widened; she couldn't hold Nana down and tighten her bonds at the same time! Unfortunately, the only one of her comrades who was awake was in a battle of his own and couldn't come to help her, no matter how much she wanted him to.

_Of all the times to want Roy's help, he's off being unconscious_, Samus thought to herself disdainfully.

"Nana? What are you doing there all tied up like that?" Popo asked innocently, taking a step closer. Samus kicked her leg out threateningly; the boy just smiled up at her. "What's wrong, Ms. Aran? I'm just checking up on my beloved sister. Is there a problem with that?"

Nana's tears were trailing down her cheeks again; why wasn't the mean woman letting her at least _talk_ to her brother? This was torture! Maybe if she kept fighting, the other would let up and she could go see him! Yeah, that was it! It was just a test to see how dedicated she was to seeing and talking to her brother again! She could pass this easily, as she loved her brother so much.

Samus groaned as the younger girl continued her struggles, and it only continued to get stronger and more violent. _Where does this girl get her energy?_ Samus thought in dismay. Finally, her arms gave out and the girl in the pink parka jumped out and rushed to greet her brother. The blonde woman was caught by surprise and stumbled backwards over the wooden chair; both she and the object fell to the floor noisily.

"Popo…oh, Popo!" Nana sobbed, going up to her brother's arms. He held them outstretched and held her tightly as she fell into them, crying and weeping into his chest. She didn't notice the blood stains on the white fur of his coat nor the cut on his neck. "It was horrible! They were all trying to keep me contained here, and they wouldn't even let me see you! Please make them stop!"

"Shh," comforted her brother soothingly; oh, how she loved to hear his voice. She missed it so much. "It's okay, Nana… let me handle this. Would you like me to hurt them for you?"

The girl in his arms simply nodded her head quickly, not caring if she got more of Popo's parka stained with her salty tears. "Yes… yes! Please show them how they were wrong!"

"Of course. Anything for my sister."

He gently led her to the floor where she finally let go of him and sat there weeping. Popo turned to Samus, who was back up, and fixed her with a glare. The faux warmth in his eyes that he showed for his sister immediately vanished, and was replaced with a stone cold look. Samus remained steadfast, however, and stood her ground.

"You hurt my sister," Popo said as he glared at the woman in front of him. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to show you just why that won't go well with me."

"Try it." Samus muttered.

Popo dashed forward, but Samus was prepared. She moved out of the way and held out her long leg so that he would trip over it and crash painfully into the wall. He quickly got up, however, and charged at her again. The blonde was going to try the same tactic, but Popo expected this and pulled out a dagger at the last moment, making a long slice up her leg. The woman hissed in pain but quickly shrugged it off. She had more important things to deal with than a silly wound that would heal in just a few hours.

Samus yanked the dagger out of Popo's hand and was about to stab him with it (eliciting a small scream from Nana) quickly, but the much smaller male rolled out of the way and the blade found itself embedded in the floor. Popo took out another knife and rushed towards Samus; the female backed up into a wall and jumped right when he stroke. The blade was stuck in the wall, and she landed right on his head.

He stumbled backwards, dazed. After a few seconds, he shook if off and glared at her. He was at a clear disadvantage; the woman was much taller than him and had a much larger range. The boy looked around the room for anything he could use when his eyes landed on an open book that had been knocked over in the commotion. He picked it up and flung it at her; it hit its mark dead on, and Samus fell dizzily to the floor.

He reached up his parka and removed Roy's hammer and held it high above his head. Right when he brought it down, Samus held out her hand to catch it which as she later figured out was a very unwise decision. The hammer smashed right through, and pain exploded in her now broken appendage; however, she merely grit her teeth and grunted. Popo couldn't help but praise her for her vigilance as not many would be able to handle their hand being smashed without a scream of pain.

While she was distracted with her useless hand, he jumped up and hit the back of her head with his hammer; she slumped down to the floor, unconscious. He had never planned on killing her, anyway. With a look of satisfaction in his face, he dropped the hammer to the ground and headed back over to Nana.

"It's okay," he whispered soothingly. "The big, bad Samus is sleeping right now. See?" He gestured over to where the blonde woman lay unmoving. Nana looked over and looked relieved. "No one can hurt you anymore." A sick grin twisted his face as he carefully slid a new dagger out of his sleeve and held it behind her neck.

"Oh, Popo… I knew you could do it," Nana giggled. "You can do anything…" She snuggled closer to her brother, reveling in his warmth. This was the Popo she knew, the one she remembered. She knew that Link's claims of facing Popo's zombie were complete lies; how could he be dead if he was right there? "I love you."

"…Yeah. I love you too, Nana." He brought the knife back a little and was about to stab it in. Maybe he would give her just a few more seconds… "You're the best sister I could have ever asked for."

"You, too." The girl in the pink parka smiled. "Well, not the sister part, of course… Just replace that with brother. You're the best brother I could have ever asked for."

"Yes…" That's enough. He raised the knife, and brought it down.

"NANA!"

Nana's eyes widened as she suddenly found herself pushed out of her brother's warm embrace, and fell onto the floor. She quickly got up and looked behind her to see just what had happened; her eyes widened.

There, right next to her brother, was Toon Link. His hand was wrapped tightly around Popo's neck, who was currently pressed into the wall and had a wide-eyed look of surprise on his face. Toon Link was breathing heavily and was looking down; a dagger was sticking into his back.

"Popo…" Nana breathed, looking over to her brother, who simply glared at her.

"You got lucky…you…bitch…" He coughed, and fell limp in Toon Link's grasp.

The girl's eyes widened and started to water; what was going on? What was Toon Link doing? What just happened?

"Nana…" Toon Link coughed as he let go of her brother's neck. He fell to the ground with a thud. The blonde stood up shakily and limped on over to the girl with a small smile on his face; he collapsed in her arms with a sigh. "I told you… you should have trusted me… huh…?"

She sniffed as the tears once again rolled down her face; she seemed unable to stop her tears anymore. "Toon Link… you… why…?"

"The rules of Round Three… one of them was to protect each other… I think I did that pretty well, don't y-you t-think…?" He coughed, and red liquid spilt out of his mouth and onto her parka, but she didn't care. The blonde looked up at her with the smile still on. "I defeated Tetra… so that I c-could save you… a-are you okay…? Y-you're not hurt…are you…?"

"N-no," Nana breathed out, still feeling detached from reality. "But you… What about you…?"

"I-I'll be fine," he lied. "'Tis just a… a f-flesh wound…ahaha…"

She held him tighter and closer; she could feel and hear his ragged breaths and thought of how _painful_ it must be for him to even simply _breathe_. This boy… just sacrificed his life to save her own and she wasn't sure what to think of it. "T-Toon Link…I don't know how to t-thank you…"

"You d-don't have to… although it'd be nice if you c-could stay alive… I don't want this to b-be pointless, y-you know…?"

She nodded furiously. "O-of course…! I'll stay alive for you… and Popo…" She refused to look at the boy still slumped on the wall. "For both of you… I'll live…"

"G-good…" Toon Link said shakily. He grabbed her pink parka weakly and held the fluff in his limp grasp. Another cough rattled his body, and he ended up spitting out more blood. His eyes started to cloud over. "T-that's…grea…t…." He went completely slack, and his hand fell off her parka.

Nana sobbed as the only conscious person left in the entire house.


	10. Vak Bizalom

**A/N: Chapter Ten - Hungarian - Vak Bizalom - Blind Trust**

**Fufufu, it seems that no one is really happy with Nana right now… let's see if she can make that up.**

**There were no updates for two days because I was busy on Sunday (slept through the entire morning, friend came over to bother me in the afternoon, went out to eat with family in the evening), and I was just sick yesterday. I felt better towards the evening, but I had absolutely no motivation to get on the laptop.**

**Anyway! A couple of announcements before we get to the chapter!**

**First, I think I should announce the current poll results. This may change by next chapter, so!**

**( Note that not all of these votes are what my profile says (not that you can see it; it's a blind poll anyway, aha). Some of these votes are from people in the reviews and my real life friends who do not have FF accounts. C: )**

**( Dead participants as of last chapter will not be in these results. Only the ones still living are in here. )**

**First Place – Olimar (12 Votes)  
>Second Place – Link (11 Votes)<br>Third Place – Lucas (7 Votes)  
>Fourth Place – Samus (4 Votes)<br>Fifth Place – Roy (3 Votes)  
>Sixth Place – Nana (1 Vote)<strong>

**It should be noted that if Toon Link were still alive, he would be in third place with eight votes, pushing everyone from Lucas down one spot. So yes, even if they do have a lot of votes, that doesn't mean I'll spare them. It just means they have a higher chance of living. C:**

**Also, I'd like to thank everyone for reading and putting this on your favorites/alerts list once more! Almost 2,000 hits and its only been up for a bit over one week! About 1,100 of those hits were from this month alone, and it's only been December for six days! That's… amazing, it really is. I honestly don't think I would have gotten this far without all of your reviews and just everything. I don't respond to reviews that often, but I do read each and every one of them because I want to see what you all have to say about this and how I can make this even better. Granted, I haven't received much criticism, so if you have any, please tell me so I can improve. I'm not perfect, and I do make a lot of mistakes. You wouldn't believe the many errors I found in chapter seven alone, aha… I'm still positive I didn't get all of them. D:**

**But anyway, long story short: thank you all so, so much. I never imagined this story would be as popular as it is now, and it wouldn't have been like this without any of you. So thank you!**

**Now that the long author's note is out of the way, let's get this chapter started!**

**OoO**

"Ergh…"

Samus opened her eyes to find herself on a not so comfortable couch. She slowly pushed herself off and did her best to ignore the painful throbbing in her head; that was nothing. She'd handled far worse injuries before. Looking around the room, she noticed that Roy, Link, and Lucas were on similar couches all arranged in a circle with multiple gaps for openings, all unconscious. Her ears perked up as she heard footsteps and quickly prepared herself.

Nana calmly walked in with multiple bowls on a tray; her face was sunken and pale as if she had been crying, but looked to be otherwise all right. The younger girl noticed that the blonde was awake and quickly put the tray down, grabbing one of the bowls and walked over to her.

"I'm glad you're awake," Nana said softly as she handed the bowl to Samus. The woman looked down and saw that what was inside of it seemed to be soup. A careful sip confirmed her suspicions. "You've been out for about an hour. In that time, I managed to make soup for all of you just by using the ingredients I found in the kitchen. Don't worry; I made sure everything was still edible."

"…One hour?" Samus calmly took the spoon and gratefully sipped the thick liquid; it was actually quite well made despite being created by an amateur. "So we only have one hour to complete this round…?"

"No," The younger girl walked around the circle to check up on everyone else and make sure they were in a stable state. "I managed to convince Cirvex to give us another two hours. He agreed with me and said that it wasn't very fair to keep the current time limit to six in the morning when all but one of us were knocked out. So he extended the deadline to eight in the morning. You're welcome."

Samus murmured something as she continued to delicately sip her soup. Nana removed the wet towels from the boys' foreheads and replaced them with fresh ones. "So," she put her soup down when she finished, feeling somewhat full. "Where's Toon Link? Why isn't he here?"

"…" She didn't answer at first, instead settling for ridding Roy's forehead of sweat. Finally, she spoke up. "He's dead. He saved my life. If it wasn't for him… that imposter would have killed me. He sacrificed himself to save me. He told me to stay alive for him and Popo, so I will. I was blind. I'm sorry. I'll do better next time."

Samus' face softened as she looked at the girl; she looked as if she had been through a lot in just a short amount of time… all of them did. But Nana seemed to be the worst of them all. Having one's brother killed, nearly losing one's life to someone who looked like him, having to murder someone, and missing a member of their party took its toll on someone. At least the younger girl seemed to be doing all right now; she wasn't screaming or ripping apart her bonds anymore.

A groan caught both of their attentions, and Nana rushed over to Link, who was opening his eyes and sitting up. The blonde looked around the room dizzily without really registering anything, and looked down at the girl who was checking his leg. "…What happened…?"

"You fainted due to blood loss," Nana explained immediately. "After the Popo incident, I brought all of you in here and did my best to take care of your wounds. I also made some soup. Samus, would you please hand me a bowl? It doesn't matter which one."

The other woman nodded and reached over to grab a bowl to hand to the young girl; she had accepted it with a small whisper of thanks and handed it to Link. The male looked down and sipped it. His eyes widened and a grin slowly started to form on his face. "Wow, Nana," he said as Nana checked the bandages around his wounded leg. "This is pretty good. You made this yourself?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Your injury was the worst, Link. I managed to remove the knife and wrap your leg in gauze I found in a room upstairs. This house is actually pretty useful. You won't be able to walk straight without making it worse, so when we move, you'll need to lean on someone tall like Samus or Roy, okay?"

"Right, I'll keep that in mind," Link nodded and downed the rest of his soup. A few minutes later, Roy and Lucas were groaning and starting to get up as well; Nana quickly went to their aids.

The next ten minutes passed in silence as the young girl tended to their wounds and made sure they were all right as the last two males to wake up drank down their soup. Their injuries weren't bad at all; they just needed a few more minutes of rest before they would be able to be up and about. Link decided to ask Roy for this aid in walking, and the redhead agreed instantly. Nana told Samus about the possibility of a concussion, but the blonde merely shrugged and said it wasn't that bad.

"…Nana," Lucas decided to break the silence; Nana turned to face him with a blank look on her face. "Are you okay? I mean, about the Popo incident and all…"

Roy quickly shot him a look and dragged a finger across his neck in order to tell him that the subject was a dead area; however, Nana just merely shrugged and said, "It's fine. I'm over it now, really. I'm sorry for being a burden on you all back there; I promise I won't do it again. No matter who it is, I'll fight with you all. I'm better now, okay? I've had an hour to think about it. Next time, I'll do my best. Okay?"

"Um…" The blond gulped; he wasn't expecting such a dull reaction from her. "…Yes. Sure. All right. I-If you say so, N-Nana…"

The young girl nodded and took all of their empty bowls and headed to the kitchen. "By the way," she called out over her shoulder as she left, "Don't bother looking for Toon Link's body; I already buried him in the front yard while you were all gone. I had a lot of free time." With that, she disappeared down the hallway.

"Toon… Link…?" Roy looked highly confused. Samus simply shook her head and explained.

"While you all were out, Toon Link fought Tetra by himself and won, apparently. Then when the Popo imposter was about to kill Nana, he jumped in and saved her at the cost of his own life. After that, well… Nana took care of us and his body. But the way she's acting now is _completely_ different to how she was acting right before we all fell; do you really think she's okay?"

"I think she's emotionally unstable," Link muttered. "I get it. If Zelda died, I probably would have reacted the exact same way, although maybe I'd be just a little bit more sane." He chuckled, but no one joined him. The blonde coughed and continued, "She's just a little girl. How old is she anyway, twelve? I don't blame her for acting the way she did. She was just in denial. I forgive her for what she did, and I suggest that you all do the same lest we get nowhere."

"I… I forgive her, too," Lucas piped up. "She and I are the same age. I'm sure if I lost my brother Claus, I'd be distraught as well. She's just coping with the death of a loved one. Eventually she'll get over it and learn to live on and be happy."

"That is, if she even lives that long. We don't have much time left, remember? She managed to buy us two more hours, so now we have three hours left to live if we don't complete all of Cirvex's rounds in time. I still don't get why he couldn't just pit us against each other and see who would come out on top in the end; it would be much easier." Samus sighed.

Roy frowned. "But Samus," he tried, "It would be way too easy. He wants to make this exciting and a challenge. That crazed machine wants us to work together and then leave one or two of us behind to die in each round! Do you know how much of a mental torture this is? He's trying to _break_ us, Samus. And it already worked on Nana."

"He's not like that!" Lucas shouted suddenly, and everyone turned to look at the young blonde boy. "He's simply confused. I had a somewhat civil conversation with him, and I'm sure I could have another one if I tried. He's not as bad as you say he is; I _know_ he's sorry for what he's doing."

"If he's so sorry, then why the hell isn't he getting us out of here?" Roy snapped back. Lucas flinched, but otherwise stood his ground.

"I don't know the answer to that, Roy," he admitted. "Maybe there's some flaw in the coding that prevents him from letting us free, or maybe he has this backup personality that forces him to keep going; I don't know. But what I do know is that he _is_ sorry for what he's done to us, and is currently trying to figure a way to get us out."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Roy shouted. "Why force us to keep going through these rounds if he's trying to get us out? By the time he figures out something, we'll all be _dead_! You give him too much credit, Lucas!"

"…No," Lucas sighed. "You just don't give him enough."

**OoO**

Fifteen minutes later, the group was completely healed and rested; they were ready to venture back into the outside. Roy had protested, wondering what the point of even going out there was; it was just going to get them killed even quicker. Samus and Link argued back that it beat doing absolutely nothing around the house, and that it was better to actually try and cause events rather than wait for them to happen.

"This is unbelievable," The redhead muttered under his breath as he walked along the sidewalk behind the others. His feet shuffled, and he kicked innocent pebbles out of his way as he went along. "This is suicide, guys. Why won't you just listen to me?"

"Look," Samus turned around to glare at him. "If you don't want to do this so badly, then why don't you just stay back inside the house where nothing happens and you'll be perfectly safe? What happened to wanting to protect me and the children, Roy? Are you just going to cower away and let us do all the work?"

"N-no," Roy mumbled. "I just don't see why we have to go looking for trouble."

"Whatever comes along, we can handle." Nana explained simply as she led the group down another street. "And besides, this round doesn't end until two people die. You all know that. Toon Link was one of them; now let's get another one down there as well."

"Whoa!" The male stopped instantly as the others kept walking; if they heard what she had said, they either didn't show it or didn't care. "Did you all _hear_ that? This girl is _trying_ to get us killed!"

"If you're not a good fighter, you will die," The young girl said softly. "And if you can't hold your own in a fight, then you don't have a right to belong in our group anyway."

"Look who's talking!" Roy groaned. "You didn't do a single thing when Popo and Tetra were attacking! We all stood there and fought while you screamed for the thing that wasn't even your brother."

"I don't recall you doing anything either," Nana sighed. "I may have been locked up, but I did hear the sounds of fighting and everything going on. I stopped screaming long enough to listen. From what I could hear, I only heard Samus fighting. I heard Link fall to the ground and Lucas muttering something. I heard Toon Link too, and then there's you. I didn't hear you at all, Roy."

"What? Nana, I'm pretty darn sure you _never_ stopped screaming." Roy narrowed his eyes. "You don't even know what you're talking about! You're just spouting out stuff without even thinking it through; I did something!"

"Yes," Samus interrupted lazily. "You were nearly hit by an arrow, stared at the thing for about five minutes, jumped up to 'help' me and Toon Link, and then Tetra appeared and took you down in two seconds flat."

Roy felt his face heat up as Nana shot him a triumphant smirk. "I… I didn't have the chance to do anything. That little girl snuck up on me…! If I knew she was there, then I definitely could have handled her! Just watch; the next enemy we meet, I'll take down myself. You can count on it."

"All right," Link smirked. He then turned and cupped his hands around his mouth and started to shout, "HEY! IS ANYONE THERE? IF YOU ARE, SAY SOMETHING BACK SO WE KNOW!"

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Roy hissed and dragged the blonde down so that they could see eye to eye. The red head decided that he didn't like the playful look the other had on his face. "You're attracting them to us! Now they know where we are! Where were you _going_ with that?"

Link simply smiled. "You said you wanted to take on the next enemy by yourself, right? I'm just making the process of finding one much quicker. What if we went all throughout this place without meeting a single enemy, and end up wasting all of our time? We can't have that now, can we? So, Mr. Brave and Mighty, go on forth!"

The blonde grabbed Roy's arm and pushed him in front of himself; Lucas squealed and quickly moved out of the way of the red head's feet.

"Please don't fight…!" He complained. "We were doing somewhat well earlier; we don't need to break that up by this stupid argument!"

"I'm not fighting; I'm being completely serious," Link explained himself poorly as he jerked a thumb over at Roy's general direction. "It's Roy here who's getting all worked up over nothing. We told him that he could stay in the house if he wanted to, but he didn't! So we decided to drag him along with us. I'm not doing anything wrong, Lucas. If you want to tell someone off for fighting, do it to this guy."

"I'm not _trying_ to fight, Link," Roy moaned, exasperated. "And I'm sorry if I came up that way. Just… never mind. Forget about it." He turned to face the blonde and stuck out his hand. "Let's just forget that this argument never happened, okay? Let's start over from the beginning and work together; we won't get anywhere if we continue what we were just doing. Oh, and this extends to all of you as well." He added on, gesturing to the remainder of the group.

"Haha, of course." Link shook his head and sighed as he grabbed Roy's hand and shook it. "Let's make amends."

"I forgive you," Nana said softly. "And before Samus says anything, I'll say it for her: she forgives you, too."

"I can speak for myself, Nana." Samus looked down at the young girl, who looked up at her and smiled.

"Yes, but you were probably going to tack on an insult at the end of your forgiveness and start up another feud. We can't have that. And Link, don't shout for an enemy ever again. I will hit you if you do."

"Okay, okay, sheesh." He put his hands up in mock surrender. "You're starting to remind me of Zelda now…"

"I wouldn't be your girlfriend for all the money in the world, Link." Nana smirked and skipped off as Samus and Roy snorted while Link had a look of complete disbelief on his face.

"You…! What… Are… Are you implying that I'm not attractive? Get back here, you little runt!" He chased after Nana who squealed and ran off. The two were running everywhere and around everything while the other three members of their group just laughed as Link wasn't able to get very far without tripping over his bad leg.

"We're like a family now," Lucas noted. "See, Roy? Apologies can make everything better." Roy nodded and was about to say something else when a voice familiar to the blonde spoke up, causing Link and Nana to immediately stop and stay still where they were.

"You have a new family now, Lucas? Aw, you're going to make your big brother _cry_…"

The young boy's eyes widened and he spun around to see someone who looked almost identical to him walk out of the shadows and under a streetlight. The only things telling the two apart were that their clothes and hair were different colors. Lucas gasped and backed up in to Samus, who wrapped her arms around the boy protectively.

"C-Claus… you're supposed to be in the audience…" Lucas breathed.

"Don't fall for it, Lucas!" Link shouted, immediately bringing out the twin swords. "Remember earlier! Those Popo and Tetra imposters were just that; imposters! Fakes! This isn't your brother!"

"R-right." Lucas got into a fighting stance and unsheathed his dagger as Samus, Roy, and Nana behind him brought out their weapons as well. "This is a fake… I can handle this."

"Oh, really? Then you wouldn't mind if I brought out some reinforcements, would you? Five against one is hardly what you would call a fair fight, wouldn't you say?" The darker-haired twin kept the smirk on his face and snapped his fingers; out from the darkness stalked forth four more figures.

The first was a tall woman that Link knew all too well; he gripped his twin blades tightly and gritted his teeth. Just because this creature _looked_ like Zelda didn't mean that it actually _was _her. He wouldn't make the same mistake that Nana did; he would fight her. The blonde wasn't sure if he would feel bad about hitting the face of his love or not, however… he shook his head. He couldn't think of that!

The second was someone in a dark blue armor. Samus narrowed her eyes; so _this_ was the person Cirvex designed to scare her? Of course. It was hard to see underneath the thick tinted visor that the helmet had, so the blonde wasn't sure who was inside controlling the thing… if there was anyone even inside in the first place. For all she cared, it could just be an empty piece of metal. The dagger in her hand found itself in a much tighter grip.

The third was another woman; this one had blue hair instead of the brunette that Link was used to. Other than the oddly-colored hair, she wore clothes of a red color scheme. Roy gasped; he _knew_ this woman… He didn't even think Cirvex would use _her_ of all people… The redhead frowned. He wouldn't back down. No way.

The last was someone that no one recognized, but they had a good feeling on who he shared some sort of a relationship with. He was a small being, with a tuft of blonde hair at the top of his head. He held a somewhat bored expression, and also bore the exact same glass helmet that Olimar wore; the only difference was that the light at the very top of it was a shining blue instead of red. Other than that, the two wore the exact same clothes. The only major differences were the hair colors, light colors, and their heights; this person seemed to be taller than Olimar.

"Zelda," Link hissed. "Or should I say _imposter_?"

"…You're just a dark version of myself in my power suit," Samus glared at the blue armored wearing being across the street with menace, "I can take you on."

"Lilina," Roy breathed. "You're so… kind, and innocent. Under normal circumstances, I would never be able to fight you, but because I know you're not real… I won't hold back."

"I assume that the blonde guy is Olimar's friend?" Nana asked, not really expecting an answer. She didn't get one, and so she sighed. "Since you all seem occupied with your own enemies, I guess I'll take him on in place of Olimar, who's…"

"We know," Lucas interrupted her. However, he never took his eyes off his twin. "Just do whatever you can. We'll need all the backup we can get once you finish off with him."

The blonde, listening to their conversation, frowned just a little bit. Was the little kid implying that he was weak…? Well, he'd just have to show him.

He reached down into his pocket and withdrew a small silver whistle. He raised it up to his mouth and blew on it, causing a loud shrilling noise to fill the air; the imposters were unaffected as the remaining participants covered their ears and groaned. Finally, the noise stopped, and they looked around to see that nothing had changed.

"…Well, that was weird." Link sighed. "Can we start this now? I'd rather get this over and done with before something really does happen."

"I'd be glad to!" Claus smirked. "Zelda, go get him."

"Of course." The brunette smirked and dashed forward to her 'boyfriend'. Link immediately jumped back and separated his blades, bringing one out in front of him and nearly cutting the regal dress his opponent wore. She looked up and frowned at him before snapping her fingers. In an instant, light exploded in front of the blonde's eyes as Link was blown backwards by what seemed to be a fiery explosion appearing out of nowhere.

He winced and scrunched up his face; he didn't seem to be _too_ badly burnt. He could still fight.

Meanwhile, the others were engaging in battles of their own. Lucas and his brother were battling with just their pure strengths as they were not allowed to use their PSI powers as to abide by Cirvex's rules. The blonde twin, not used to physical fighting, simply resorted to pulling on the other's orange locks.

"Ow! That hurts!" Claus shrieked, trying to claw his brother off him.

"That's the point!" Lucas yelled back as he brought out his dagger. His opponent noticed the blade and jumped backwards just in time, causing the near-lethal strike to nearly slice him across the face. Instead, he only lost a few strands of hair. Claus looked up and him and growled, reaching into his pocket and taking out his own dagger.

"I would have chosen a more deadly weapon to off you with, Lu," He explained as he dodged another jab from his clearly inexperienced twin, "But I wanted to make this _hurt_." The orange haired twin stuck out his hand and nicked Lucas' stomach, causing his shirt to instantly tear open. The blonde stumbled backwards as he looked down at the cut that was starting to bleed.

He looked up just in time to duck under another swipe from his enemy, and jumped up to ram him in the stomach. Claus gagged and choked as he flipped over and landed on his face; he just barely managed to move his weapon to the side to avoid landing on it. Before he could get up, however, Lucas ran up to him and swiftly kicked him in the side, causing him to relinquish his grip on the dagger and watch as it clattered away uselessly.

Claus tried to get himself up to reach for it but was halted when his twin stomped fiercely on his hand and pointed his own dagger at his face. "I'm not weak," Lucas muttered. "You're not really my brother, so I don't feel so bad about doing this."

"Are you sure, Lucas…? What makes you think that I'm _not_ your brother? Remember all of the fun times we had when we were younger? And that trampoline in dad's backyard; we would always go to jump on it during the summer after school let out…" Claus started to get a look of sentiment on his face, and Lucas flinched. Cirvex couldn't possibly know about those memories, could he? He was positive that he had never taken any information on their backgrounds. And yet… why was this Claus imposter going on talking about real memories that he couldn't have possibly known?

His hands shook, and he just barely heard someone off to the side yell at him to not get distracted and just _stab him already_, but the blonde merely shook his head. He couldn't! If this was really Claus, who had been sent into the virtual world somehow… He could never forgive himself if he killed him! But then…

If Claus really _had_ been sent into the virtual world, then why would he be trying to kill him in the first place?

Lucas made up his mind and brought the dagger straight down. Claus reacted immediately and quickly forced his twin's foot off his hand and tried to dodge it, but only succeeded in scooting upwards. The dagger found itself embedded into his chest, and he coughed out blood. Lucas breathed heavily; he had finished his mission. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy at the same time. Just killing the enemy that had the face of your brother…

He was not prepared for what happened next.

Claus, who had looked so defeated and nearly dead just seconds ago, instantly sprang back up to life and slammed the blonde into the ground. He took out another dagger from his other pocket and Lucas watched in horror as the light from the streetlights reflected off of the blade before it found itself sailing in a crash-course collision with his face.

In an in-the-moment reaction, he quickly shot up his hands and screamed in pain as the dagger sliced through them both instantly, bone and all. Tears streamed down his face; Claus had packed a _lot_ of power in that stab. He kicked his twin off backwards and stared down at his impaled hands; how was he supposed to get that dagger out? He sniffled; the blood was starting to drip off his fingers and onto the pavement below in a steady flow.

Looking up, he saw his twin imposter getting up with the dagger still in his chest. The red liquid around the wound was also dripping to the ground, but showed no signs of fatigue. Lucas' heart pounded; he knew it was the worst thing to do with a _dagger impaled in both of his hands_, but he just couldn't help it. The poor blonde could barely even feel his left hand; he feared that the blade had impaled a nerve. His right hand he could still feel, however it was bleeding a lot faster. He would need to end this battle and get Cirvex's healing abilities before it was too late.

He looked up to see Claus staggering towards him; it seemed that now the dagger impaled in his chest was finally taking its toll on the doppelganger, and nearly one yard away, the orange-haired child collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't have much to worry about anymore. A sudden explosion to the right caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Link dodging what appeared to be randomly exploding fireballs courtesy of Zelda. He found that this wasn't very fair; why was Zelda allowed to use her abilities when he wasn't? Nonetheless, he continued to watch and see how Link was doing before tending to his own hands.

He wasn't doing too badly; he had figured out where the 'Din's Fire', as the brunette had called it, was going to explode just by watching how she moved her hand. Wherever she pointed her hand, the explosion would occur somewhere near there. Using this method, he was able to dodge most of the blows.

Link decided that he wasn't going to get very far staying back, so as she continued to use her Din's Fire, he moved either left or right and then forward just a little bit; enough so that he would be closer to her without her noticing. By the time she had figured out his plan, he was close enough to land a direct blow with one of his twin blades, and she was sent sprawling backwards with blood spurting out of her chest where he had hit.

Zelda had a look of complete shock and horror on her face; Link couldn't bear to look at it for very long. He shook his head and turned to the side; his injured leg was still throbbing very painfully, reminding him that dodging and moving forward was definitely not the best idea for it. As he tried to walk off the pain, he felt a slender hand suddenly shoot up to grab his good leg and wrap tightly around his ankle, preventing him from going any further.

"Z-Zelda! Let me go!" He grabbed one of his blades and prepared to stab it downwards, but the being that had the face of the woman he loved whispered something that sounded a lot like "Nayru's Love" and suddenly a blue barrier appeared before her. The blade bounced off the barrier effortlessly and spiraled in the air before sticking into the ground a few yards away. Link frowned and set to use his other blade on her but, she whispered something else and in an instant, she as gone. "Wh-where-?"

His question was answered as he heard what sounded like rough and ragged coughing off to the side. He tuned his head to see Zelda emerge from a cloud of smoke with her hand over her mouth, coughing violently. Her white glove was quickly stained and tainted with a red liquid, and after giving one last and final shudder, she fell to the ground completely limp. Link saw that he didn't feel bad for killing something that dared to steal his love's face.

"H-hey! A little help over here would be appreciated!"

The two winners of their battles looked to see Roy face off against Lilina, who was holding Toon Link's sword for some reason. Link and Lucas both narrowed their eyes; how _dare_ this woman wield their fallen comrade's weapon? The two quickly got up and tried to help their ally when suddenly a giant laser beam shot in front of them, effectively stopping them in their tracks. They turned to see Samus fighting the person in the dark blue armor.

"I can handle this by myself even without my power suit," she told them as she leapt into the air and delivered a solid punch to the armor; however, it seemed to not do much at all as it didn't react and instead punched the blonde in the stomach, sending her back a few yards. The two males had no idea what she meant by 'power suit', but decided not to question it.

"Are you sure, Samus?" Lucas asked shyly. "Because we can help you if you want…"

"No, I'm fine," she reassured them as she quickly got up like nothing had happened. "I'd worry more about yourself, Lucas. Get Link to heal your hands for you or make him do _something_ to make it better. After all, it's the least he can do for you helping him when he had his own dagger issue."

"…But I didn't even really do anything to help him…" The young child muttered, but looked up to see Link smiling down at him affectionately.

"Hey, that's not true. You didn't leave me by yourself, now did you? Come on; I'm sure Samus and the others can handle themselves anyway. They've proven to be strong fighters, because after all, they wouldn't have made it this far if they couldn't hold their own in a fight, right? Just watch; you'll see." As he spoke, Link ripped off parts of his green tunic to use as makeshift bandages for Lucas' hands. "This might hurt a bit." A contemplative thought went through his head. "Actually, never mind. This will hurt. It will hurt a _lot_, to be honest." And with those words, he pulled out the dagger in Lucas' hands quickly.

This elicited a scream from the blonde boy, which attracted the attention of Lilina. She was quickly thrown off guard by Roy ramming into her and knocking her into the pavement, however. Lucas turned to watch them for a few seconds before looking back down to see what Link was doing to his hands, sobbing all the while. "I-It hurts…"

"Of course it does," Link scoffed. "But don't worry. I'm actually surprised you haven't turned into a complete wreck by now. This thing must hurt like hell, but you're taking it pretty darn well. You're strong, Lucas, you really are. I'm not sure that even I would be able to handle something like this as well as you're doing right now."

Lucas didn't respond; instead, he just chose to stand there and watch as Link wrapped the makeshift green bandages around his hands. The blonde wrapped them both very tightly, causing him to wince, but Link assured him that it was necessary, and that they would be able to get Cirvex to heal them back to normal once everyone was finished with their battles.

"Okay, you stay here," he told the blonde boy after a few minutes of rest; the other fighting groups weren't gaining that much progress. Roy and Lilina were still going at it, as was Samus and that dark armored person. Nana and the blonde guy… they seemed to just be slapping each other, actually. Link scoffed. "I'm going to go help Roy. I would actually rather help Samus, but… she seems to me like the prideful type. I'll jump in to help her if the situation really calls for it."

"But wait! What am I going to do?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"You?" Link raised an eyebrow. "You're going to stay right here, of course. You can't do much anyway. Your dagger is still in that other kid's chest and you won't be able to use your hands for a while now. Sorry Lucas, but… you're pretty much useless at this moment. You can't really do much to help us, to be honest, unless you want to be killed."

"N-no," Lucas shook his head, "I don't. I-I understand. I'll stay here. But if you ever need backup, or just someone to reassure you and cheer you all on, I'll be there, okay? Just call me, and if I ever think you need it, I'll come on my own anyway, okay?"

Link smiled down at the other blonde and patted his head. "Of course. You just—"

He was interrupted as a giant rumbling sound echoed throughout the streets, and the sounds of tiny feet hitting the pavement reached their ears. In the distance, they could see a whole rainbow of… _something_ just marching towards them; the blonde astronaut that resembled Olimar smiled brightly for the first time. The creatures stopped in front of him after throwing Nana to the side, and the participants could see that the things that the male had summoned resembled walking plants; there had to be at most a hundred of them.

"Meet my Pikmin," the blonde spoke up in a soft voice. "They are why I blew my whistle."

Louie's army had arrived.


	11. Näkemiin

**A/N: Chapter Eleven - Finnish - Näkemiin – Goodbye**

**Happy anniversary.**

**OoO**

It was as if she were holding her breath.

Zelda didn't know what to think. Her Link, her beloved… fighting a copy of herself? Just the mere thought of it was surreal, but she knew it to be the truth. After the night's events, she would believe anything. If Link made it out alive… what would she do?

_I would shower him with love,_ she thought assuredly to herself. _I'll never let him go again._

She looked over to Peach, her eyes softening in pity. Luigi was gone, but Link wasn't. Zelda still had a chance, to hope that the person she cared for most would make it out alive. Peach didn't have that luxury. And her brunette couldn't possibly imagine the pain her friend must feel.

"I'm okay," she had said. "It's okay. I knew… I knew this could have happened." The blonde choked and tried to stifle her sobs. "I just wish…" And she trailed off, not able to complete her sentence. Zelda lightly placed a hand on Peach's back, unsure of how to come up with a response. There was no way to respond to something like that. The best thing she could do was remain silent.

And hope the best for her own lover.

Her knuckles turned white as she tightly gripped the edge of her dress. If there was anything she could do, to help Link and everyone else out… she would do it in a heartbeat. Trade places with him, even. _I feel so useless_, she thought, _I can't even help my own boyfriend when he needs me most. _And the worst thing about it was the very real possibility of him dying.

There were the two children, Nana and Popo if she recalled their names correctly, who had gone in together. One was dead, and the other was distraught. Nana was doing alright now; at least she was still alive, but Zelda didn't know how much longer she would last. Everyone else, except possibly Olimar, was much taller and stronger than the poor little girl.

There was the woman, Samus, who didn't seem to have anyone in the audience waiting for her to return that Zelda could see. She was strong and tough from what Cirvex spoke of her, but Zelda didn't know if she would be able to hold up to the likes of Link or possibly even Roy.

There was Lucas, the little boy. His twin brother was waiting in the audience for him to return, and would no doubt be crushed if he didn't make it back. But could Lucas really hold his own against Samus?

There was Roy, the redheaded boy. He seemed like a fun, easygoing type – someone Link would get along with perfectly well on different occasions. He was definitely athletic; Cirvex had given recaps of each round at their conclusion on what each person had done, and Roy could definitely fight. He seemed to have one of the highest chances of living through the night.

There was Olimar, the small Hocotatian. Waiting for him in the audience was his best friend Louie, who didn't seem to be very worried at all. But Zelda had seen him multiple times throughout the night, and the little blonde male always seemed to have a straight face. Perhaps he was more worried inside than he showed…

Then there was Link. Oh, sweet, handsome Link… Like Roy, he was athletic, and could outrun almost anyone she knew. He was quick on his feet and a good strategist, and could definitely think himself out of any situation. And Zelda hoped, prayed, that tonight would be no different.

But that was selfish. She wanted him to live so he could return and love her for her own satisfaction. Zelda cared about his wellbeing and wanted the best for him, but she also wanted the best for herself. Was it worth killing five innocent people? Killing others who had already lost their lives to the malevolent machine?

She didn't know what to think.

Zelda wasn't in Cirvex's simulated world, but she felt as if she had been fighting alongside everyone who was the entire night. A battle raged in her mind as she tried to fight off the throes of selfishness and keep hold of her morality, but as each second passed she found that it was getting harder and harder to do so.

"Zelda?"

The brunette was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a light tug on her arm. She turned to face Peach, who looked up at her with a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright?"

Zelda let out a shaky breath. "Yes… No. I don't… I don't know." She held her head in her hands. "What am I supposed to think or do, Peach? I want Link to live and survive, but I don't want the remaining prisoners' blood on his hands! Is it selfish of me to want him to live just because we're in a relationship? There are _children_ in there! And I can't… I don't know what to do…"

Peach closed her eyes and soothingly rubbed her friend's back. "I'm not going to tell you what you should do," she whispered. "That's up for you to decide. But if you want my opinion…" she looked down at the capsules below, at the capsules that held the body of the participants. Only five were still breathing. She let out a shaky breath. "Just watch and see what happens. Nothing you do will change the situation. What happens in there won't change because of what you do out here."

"I hate…" Zelda choked out, "I hate how we're supposed to just sit here and _watch_ this happen. And we can't even see what's going on. All we know that's happened so far is what Cirvex has been telling us, and I can't trust that thing."

As the brunette rambled, Peach simply nodded along. She wouldn't say anything more, instead choosing to listen to her distraught best friend. Knowing that her own lover's brother was already dead… Peach felt a sort of detachment. As if she couldn't quite believe it. He was right down there, right in the capsule on the stage below… but she would never see him again.

_I'm sorry, Luigi_, she thought sadly to herself. _I'm sorry I couldn't help you._

**OoO**

Roy and Lilina moved as if in a dance, weaving in and out in front of each other as they brandished their weapons, looking for an open spot. After being caught by surprise earlier, Lilina was keen to her every surrounding and seemed to be able to read Roy's mind, moving out of the way and anticipating his every move. This only served to anger and frustrate the redhead, and as such his attacks became more fierce and wild.

Lilina had a cocky smirk plastered to her face, and Roy was instantly reminded once more of the clone he was facing. This wasn't the real Lilina. She would never hurt him like this…

He threw his arm back, ready to strike once more with vigor. His opponent quickly ducked out of the way of the oncoming hammer and kicked herself up into him, causing him to cough and sputter as they soared through the air. She landed daintily on her feet without a scratch, and he came to meet the ground face first.

"Getting tired?" The Lilina doppelganger asked, tilting her head to the side. "That's no fun, Roy… I'm just getting warmed up."

"Oh, really?" He quickly rolled back onto his feet and held his hammer out in front of him defensively. "So am I."

And with that, he jumped forth once more. She stepped backwards and held out her sword, as if waiting for him to impale himself onto it. _Smarter than that_, Roy thought as he ducked beneath the blade. Lilina's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly turned to meet her opponent face to face. Roy smirked and kicked his left leg out in front of him – it hit its target and she fell to the ground.

Knowing he wouldn't have enough time to strike hard with his hammer, he lifted his foot and planted it firmly on her torso, hard enough to prevent her from rolling away. "Who's getting tired now?" He asked, raising his hammer up high.

Lilina frowned and raised Toon Link's sword above his foot, ready to jam it in. Roy swore and quickly jumped out of the way, hoping she wouldn't be able to stop her own momentum and stab herself. Unfortunately, she moved the sword out of the way at the last minute and she rose back to her feet, perfectly unharmed save for a few scratches.

"Please," she muttered. "I'm not so dumb as to attack myself."

"You sure look to be the type, though," Roy shot back as he darted forward once more. What he wouldn't give to have his flamethrower back… Nonetheless, the two fell back into a dance, with one attacking the other only to completely miss. To any onlooker they would look perfectly matched, but Roy knew that it wasn't an option. He would not allow a tie; he _had _to win, lest he be the second sacrifice for the round.

He wanted to go back home to the real Lilina. Back to his family and friends, where they would welcome him back with open arms and possibly throw a feast to celebrate his victory. But… his eyes darkened, ducking below yet another jab from Lilina. His victory would come at a cost: the lives of everyone else still playing Cirvex's little game.

He hated the computer. Hated him for what he put them through, for what he planned. Roy didn't care if Lucas thought there was a nicer, alternative side to the sadistic machine; that didn't change the fact that people had already died, and more were going to fall before the night was over. They didn't have unlimited time.

It was do or die, and Roy did not plan on dying tonight.

He noticed that as he fought the Lilina imposter, the plant things that blonde guy had summoned seemed to completely ignore them. Perhaps it was because he hadn't made any contact with Louie at all, or maybe it was because they were all focused on Nana and Link. Roy didn't have any time to spare to watch how they fought, however. He had his own fight to settle.

"Had enough yet?" Lilina taunted, holding up her blade. Roy noticed that she was panting, and she seemed too tired to even hold up her own weapon properly. Briefly he wondered how and why a computer generated program was able to tire, but he was thankful for it.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Finally he allowed himself a smirk, knowing that if he couldn't beat her with pure strength, she could bring herself down. All he had to do was survive. Easy enough. Lowly under his breath he muttered, "Have at you, bitch," and dashed forward, weapon in hand.

Lilina's eyes narrowed and she side stepped his attack, not moving nearly as often as she was before. Roy let out a short laugh. If she wanted to play like that, then he would _make_ her move.

Quickly he made his way over to the sea of Pikmin and picked up the nearest one, a plump purple one that seemed to weigh five times as much as it looked it should have. With a little difficulty, he managed to hurl the thing straight at his opponent, who stepped to the side and let it fly past her. When she turned to look at Roy again, she found five more Pikmin, all of various colors, being tossed her way. Immediately she found herself in a game of Pikmin dodge ball as she tried to dodge and avoid the oncoming creatures, slashing through some of them with her sword.

"That's it," she muttered after dodging fifteen of the things. She took one step forward –

And a heavy purple Pikmin planted into her face.

Lilina let out a groan of pain as she fell backwards, and Roy took the moment to rush back and kick her as hard as he could, knowing he wouldn't get a good shot in with just his hammer. She coughed and rolled away before he could get another kick in and shakily stood back up. Roy dashed forward once more, his weapon at the ready.

Lilina wobbled on her feet for a moment before just barely ducking below the swing of his hammer. Roy turned on his heel and reached out with his hand to grab a fistful of her hair, pulling it back and dragging her with it. She let out a surprised yelp as her back met the hard concrete and once more found herself at the mercy of the redhead. He knelt down to force the sword out of her hand and pointed it at her neck.

"Had enough?" He tilted his head to the side, much like she herself did earlier. "Shame. I was just getting started."

She growled and was about to spit a comeback at him but he tipped Toon Link's blade forward, the sharp edge just barely cutting into her throat. A thin stream of blood trickled from the puncture, and her eyes widened. "You…" she managed to whisper with difficulty. "You wouldn't kill your beloved friend, would you…? Roy?"

Roy's eyes narrowed and he slammed the blade down with all his might, effectively cutting both her voice and her life off. "You aren't Lilina. Don't you dare try to play that with me."

He sighed and closed his eyes. His battle was done. He won. The redhead looked down at the two weapons he now held; his hammer and Toon Link's sword. He gripped the handle of the blade tightly; he would not let it go to waste. Roy had seen how easily the sword was able to slice through the flowery Pikmin first hand – the others could use his help.

He turned to see Nana and Louie still going at it. A rainbow of Pikmin latched themselves onto the poor girl and slammed their hard heads onto her body, but she remained resilient and kept up her end of the slap fight. It was as if she didn't even notice the horde of Pikmin stubbornly clinging to her pants and parka. A look of pure determination was on her face, trying to overpower her opponent despite the added weights.

An explosion caught his attention, and he turned to see Samus jumping away from the suited being, smoke rising from a newly formed hole in the ground. Seeing how the blonde woman probably needed his help more than Nana, Roy quickly made his way over to help.

"Samus!" He called once he was close to her. "Don't worry, I'm here to help!"

"I don't need your help," the woman muttered in reply, but she didn't force him to leave. Roy considered this a silent victory, and handed the hammer to his partner.

"Here," he said. "You might need this."

She raised an eyebrow at the offering and shook her head, much to his surprise. Before either of them could talk, a laser was suddenly shot from a barrel on the enemy, and they jumped out of the way to avoid getting singed. Roy quickly rose back to his feet and kept his eyes peeled.

Samus had landed next to Claus' body, and she eyed the forgotten dagger embedded in his chest with interest. "Better than a hammer," she mumbled, and used both hands to rip the blade out. A sickening squelch emitted from the body as she removed the intruding weapon, but whether it bothered her or not she acted indifferent. Now armed with a sharp and useful weapon, she took a readied battle stance.

The purple suit of armor looked between its two opponents, unsure of whom to go for. Eventually it decided to just go for _both_ of them at once, and raised both of its arms to unlatched two guns. Bullets shot like rapid fire from the barrels, and the two temporary teammates quickly moved out of the way, edging as close as they dared without getting shot.

"Think it'll run out any time soon?" Roy called over the roar of the bullets, seeing the ammunition slow down none.

"Not at all," Samus growled. "It's not human, Roy. It won't tire, and it has all the ammunition and weapons it needs to kill us. Stay on your guard or stay here and die." With that, she lashed forward, dagger pulled back and ready to strike.

Roy blinked and looked after her, quickly following behind. As she moved out of the way of a swing of the suit's arm, Roy did the same and both found themselves face to face with the enemy. Samus slid the blade of the dagger beneath the visor of the creature and Roy slashed Toon Link's sword with all his might at the hard armored side, not finding anything else quickly enough to it.

Immediately the thing reacted, kicking Roy up and out of the way and attempting to do the same to Samus. She saw the attack coming and jumped up over its arm, bringing herself close enough to the suit to wrap her legs around its neck and pull the lodged dagger skywards. Her strength was enough to pop the glass of the helmet off and she was able to look inside, to see what it was exactly she was facing.

A hollow shell stared back at her.

She blinked and gasped, caught by surprise, and the being used this opportunity to shake her off and kick her away. It brought up its arm to level with her face and a laser cannon popped out, charged and ready to fire –

Roy let out a war cry and smashed into the empty armor from the side, knocking it onto its side and sending it crashing to the asphalt. The laser that was aimed at Samus missed completely and it went off into the distance. From the tiny shrieks of what must have been agonizing pain, Roy figured that it had hit the Pikmin. Good.

He took the opportunity to raise his sword up high and slash it down onto the ready laser cannon, effectively slicing it off. It crashed onto the ground with a _clunk_, and Roy kicked it far away for good measure.

"You alright?" He held out a hand to Samus, who ignored him and stood up on her own instead. The redhead chuckled nervously and slowly put his arm back down. He was just trying to help. Shaking his head, he turned back to their common enemy.

Electricity crackled from the now disconnected wires as the suit slowly raised itself back to its feet. Before it could completely recover, however, Samus had dashed up to it and stabbed her dagger deep into its chest, as if trying to reach for a heart that wasn't there. It seemed to be amused by her useless attack and whipped her across the face, sending her sprawling back to the ground.

Roy growled and made his move before the thing could finish off the blonde woman, and this time used its hammer to smash in what would be the suit's head. A large dent formed and the redhead smirked at his strength, lifting the hammer to get in another short when it suddenly threw out its arms, pushing him back and to the ground.

Samus had already gotten up by this point, and she grabbed Roy's sword as he fell. She ignored his surprised cry of "hey!" and used her new and improved weapon to slash at its neck. A thin cut appeared on the surface, but otherwise it did nothing, and she was forced back once more. Samus was not one to give up, however, and almost immediately she was back in front of her suit's doppelganger, hacking and slashing away.

Her redheaded partner picked himself up and moved to help. He pouted at having his new weapon taken away from him so quickly, but quickly settled for his old trusty hammer. Together the two left a series of slashes and dents on the purple suit of armor, barely giving it any time to register the attacks and retaliate. They drove it back, the suit slowly moving backwards and the two slowly following it, until they were off the road and stood on relatively soft glass.

Suddenly it reached out and grabbed Samus' and Roy's arms, and before the two could react and move away, an electrical current from the inner workings of the armor shocked them both. They screamed in pain and agony and as their opponent let them go, they fell to the grass, twitching and emitting odd sparks of electricity from their bodies. The suit looked down at them both before walking away to join its last partner in battle.

Lucas remained in the background all the while, not being able to do much of anything with his hands bound and wrapped. He gulped, watching his teammates put up with their respective enemies. He wanted to scream and cry out as he saw Samus and Roy fall, but he knew he couldn't distract Link and Nana from the Pikmin and Louie. The suit of armor moved away from its victims, so the blonde boy knew they wouldn't be hurt more for now.

Link had been doing his best to keep the Pikmin away from Nana, but as he destroyed more of the plant-like beings, Louie only whistled and called for more as if he had an infinite number of them at his disposal. Each of them had an elemental sort of power about them: the red ones burned him as he touched them, the yellow ones shocked him, the white ones just plain made him feel sick, the purple ones were impossibly heavy, and he didn't know much about the blue ones other than the fact that they had mouths and the other colors didn't. If the blue skin was any indicator, he would guess that their elemental power was water based, and he was glad that there wasn't a large body of water nearby.

Nana and Louie kept up their slap fight, not having much physical strength themselves and have no weapons besides the Pikmin. Nana couldn't control the Pikmin and they wouldn't dare attack their master, but she wouldn't let Louie have them either. Every time he tried to pick one up, she would grab his arm and smack it out of the way, much to the blonde's chagrin.

Link continued to use the dual blades Pit had wielded, slashing through the Pikmin with ease. More just kept coming, and so he was glad that he was able to kill them with ease. Fragile bodies, destroyed so easily. In the back of his mind, he was grateful that they didn't leave their corpses behind; they just turned into soul wisps and floated up into the sky. He didn't want to stand in a field of bodies, flowers or not.

"Nana!" He called, slashing through a large purple Pikmin. "You okay back there? Don't worry; I'll be there as soon as I can!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the Pikmin started attacking and jumping him in even larger groups than before, giving him more trouble. They started to weigh him down and his movements became sluggish until he could barely move at all. "Ah!"

"Link!" Lucas cried. He had almost darted forward to help his friend but stopped himself as his hands seemed to pulse painfully in protest. The boy groaned. If this was Olimar's friend and he could control the Pikmin, did that mean Olimar also had the ability to control them? Where was the little Hocotatian, anyway? From what he knew, Olimar was still considered alive by Cirvex's standards and as such should be here fighting with them.

If he could clench his hands, he would have done so. The one person they needed most right now was missing in action, and no one, not even Cirvex, had any clue on where to even start looking for him. He had to be here somewhere, in the world the malevolent machine had created…

"Please, Olimar…" Lucas whispered to himself. "We need you…"

Nana seemed to notice Link's predicament and she turned, eyes widened as she saw her friend fall. Louie took the chance to grab a nearby white Pikmin and he flung it with all his might at the girl. It hit his target dead on, and she collapsed, giving all of the other Pikmin the opportunity they had strived so hard for to cover all areas of her body. Her muffled screams and cries went nearly unheard under the sound of the chattering Pikmin.

Lucas gulped, tears welling in his eyes. Samus and Roy were unconscious, Link and Nana were buried in a sea of Pikmin… and he was incapacitated. There was no way out of this…

Suddenly, a large amount of Pikmin suddenly rose into the air, all clinging onto a certain tall body. Link looked out furiously from the flowers covering his face, and he roared dangerously, "I have had _enough_ of you damn creatures!" Yelling angrily, he held the dual swords in both hands and spun, sending all the Pikmin clinging to his skin flying to the ground. As soon as their bodies connected with the hard surface, their eyes widened and they turned into wisps of what they once were.

Louie was alarmed by the sudden movement and moved to blow his whistle – but right from underneath him, Nana's arm shot out of the flowers and her hand wrapped around his wrist. He struggled and tried to kick her off, but she refused to let go. Link continued to declare war on all the Pikmin, mercilessly hacking each one he saw until the numbers noticeably dwindled and there were just a few left.

The small blonde Hocotatian started to sweat, looking nervously at his two opponents. Nana, now with less Pikmin covering her, was able to stand up with much ease and she looked her enemy dead in the eye. "Your turn," she muttered dangerously as Link came up behind her, one of the dual swords raised high in the air.

Louie turned to run away, but Nana's grip on his arm prevented him from taking even a step. Link brought the sword down and the blade crashed into the helmet of the small being, forming a large crack instantly. One more swing from the blunt weapon and the entire helmet shattered. The mesmerizing blue light that shined from the top fell to the ground and went out.

Nana watched with cruel glee and let go of her opponent as he reached for his neck with both hands and fell to his knees. Some of the glass had punctured his skin, and trails of blood streamed down his face, giving him a rather pitiful look. "I… I…" he rasped, desperately trying to breathe. "N… no wa... y…" His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he shuddered once before falling to the ground, limp and unmoving.

Link looked down at the Hocotatian before finally leaning back. "Finally. That was annoying." He plucked a stray flower from his hair.

"Link! Watch out!"

The blonde had just a moment to register Lucas' quick warning before something suddenly collided into him full force, sending him sprawling to the ground. Nana let out a cry of alarm before she too was sent flying. The purple suit of armor stood tall above them, and the girl shivered at the empty shell. The glass visor of the helmet was gone, showing… absolutely nothing inside.

From a distance, Samus slowly and weakly rose to her knees. She breathed heavily, feeling pain course throughout her entire body. She was tired and wanted a rest… but she couldn't. There was still a fight she had to settle, and she'd be damned if she was going to let a girly girl brat and Mr. Majesty finish it for her.

She stumbled as she took a step forward, but she was not going to let that deter her. Samus bit her lip and continued her limp, determined to see it through to the end. Suddenly an arm snaked its way around her chest and she turned, ready to bite the head off the person who touched her, and stopped when she noticed Roy smiling innocently up at her.

"Need some help walking?" He asked. She frowned; who was he to help her? He was in just as bad, if not worse, shape than she was. But even as she looked him over and pondered over his question, she realized that with his help, the two had lasted a lot longer than if she had just battled alone. With his help, she was walking faster than if she had just continued on her own.

She frowned and didn't respond. Roy shrugged, used to her antics, and together the two continued their struggled limp to where the battle was now taking place.

Lucas brightened considerably when the two rose, but his expression quickly changed to worry when he looked back at Nana and Link. Both of them were struggling to stand, but the purple power suit wouldn't even give them the chance. It knocked them back down mercilessly every time they tried, and while Lucas _knew_ it was capable of taking them both out in one hit, it seemed to be holding back. But why? His eyes widened as he came to the realization.

_It's teasing them._

He bit his lip, anxious and worried for his two friends. Six enemies were down, counting Popo and Tetra from hours earlier, and there was only one left to go, but… none of them were in any condition to fight. It was a doomed battle.

"Hey," Roy called out to the suit like he had a death wish. "Yeah, over here. Did you forget about us? I'm hurt." But he had a look of pure malice on his face as he glared at the being that had hurt him and his friends. His right hand gripped the handle of the hammer tightly and his knuckles started to turn white. Samus likewise did the same with Toon Link's sword.

With the power suit's attention grabbed, Nana and Link were finally able to stand back up, albeit dizzily. The girl with the pink parka grabbed her head and moaned softly in pain, and the blonde male instantly reached for his dual swords. He took a few seconds to recover and then lashed out, hacking at the suit with no mercy, leaving countless slashes in his wake.

Samus and Roy, determined not to be left out, rushed to aid him. The power suit, knowing that it was out numbered even with its severely weakened enemies, brought out two canons and aimed it as well as it could. Link, however, quickly reacted and slashed them off before they could fire, rendering them useless.

Lucas smirked; they were finally having the upper hand again.

They brought the power suit to its knees, all attacking as hard as they could, knowing it was their final enemy for the time being. The suit of armor crackled with electricity and started to go on the fritz; its movements because jerky and sporadic as it tried to deflect the many incoming blows. Roy's attacks were the devastating ones in particular and already, after a short time, it was looking completely beat down.

A hatch opened on its back, unnoticed by all but one. Three thick black wires snuck out and coiled around a foot of each attacker, and then—

Everything stopped.

Samus and Roy got their second dose of electricity, and neither showed any signs of movement as they hit the ground. Link screamed as he was forced to undergo the painful surge, and his twin blades fell to the asphalt with a clatter, his own body following suit. Their bodies twitched as electric waves bounced off of them, but they didn't willingly move by themselves.

Lucas stared in horror as the power suit slowly rose back to its feet, its joints creaking with every movement. Sparks of electricity bounced across its armor and wires jutted out everywhere. It looked like a complete mess; the blonde boy couldn't even begin to comprehend how it was still functional.

The empty armor lifted Samus by her neck and managed to seem disappointed by her lack of reaction. In a small fit, it threw her back on the ground, separated from the others, and unlatched its final cannon, a rather unstable one that seemed about to fall at any second. But its physical state apparently meant nothing as visible energy started to gather at the front, ready to finish the female bounty hunter once and for all.

"No!" Lucas shouted. He wanted to run, to do something to help, but his legs seemed glued to the ground. _Come on, work with me! I have to save Samus! Come on!_

The blonde boy could do nothing but stare at the horrific sight happening in front of his eyes. The tough and strong blonde woman lying unconscious, at the mercy of her attacker… The canon was ready to fire. It crackled and fizzed, but a bright beam of light shot forth from the barrel, and Lucas was forced to cover his tearful eyes.

When the light died down, he almost didn't want to move his arms. He didn't want to see what had become of the strong woman. But… he had to. Maybe… maybe there was a chance he could save her. In his mind he highly doubted it and knew it was impossible, but he need something – anything! – to reassure him that she wasn't dead.

That reassurance came in the form of a little girl in a pink parka.

Lucas finally unshielded his eyes and had to blink twice at the sight before him. The power suit, now completely out of energy, let off a final spark before finally crumbling into a heap on the group. Standing just beyond it, in front of Samus…

"Nana!"

The blonde boy, knowing there was no more danger, ran to her. Her once spotless coat was now almost completely charred with soot, and her skin was in a similar condition. She coughed once, and smoke came blowing in front of her face. Lucas cringed at the smell of burnt skin and fabric, but pressed on anyway.

"Nana," he cried, running up to her. As soon as he made it, she took one look at him and fell to the ground. "Nana!" Lucas was scared to touch her; he didn't want to put her in any more pain than she was most undoubtedly currently in. He settled for holding her hand. "No, no… You…"

"Did I… redeem myself?" The girl asked, her voice hoarse. She coughed once more, and soot splattered on the bottom of Lucas' chin. He didn't notice. "I wanted… to prove that I changed… and that I really am sorry about earlier…"

"S-stop talking," Lucas muttered. Nana's eyes widened, and he quickly added, "D-don't strain yourself… We'll help you, okay? You won't die here…"

"I… took that attack for Samus," Nana muttered. "I took it head on… for her. There was no way… someone like me… would make it to the end of tonight, anyway…"

"But you're _so close_!" Lucas tried. "You're just going to throw your life away? What about your brother? Would he have wanted you to do this?"

She closed her eyes and thought. It was only a moment, but Lucas feared that she would slip away soon. Like the others before her… "I think… yes… he would."

The blonde boy bit his lip. They were so close… they had already defeated three enemies without many casualties; why did she have to go and sacrifice herself to the fourth?

"L-Lucas," she sputtered, and he had to lean in closer to hear her voice. "Who do you think deserves… to live? Me… or Samus…?"

"I can't answer that, Nana…"

"Samus is strong… and she's an admirable woman… but look at me. I'm just a scared little girl… who couldn't even tell her own brother from a fake… and got someone killed because of it." Lucas' heart panged at the thought of Toon Link, but Nana continued before he could say anything. "If there was a choice… between me and Samus… who would move on from this round… Samus is the better choice by far, Lucas."

"Nana, stop…" He shook his head. He didn't want to hear this. Everyone always had to give some heroic speech in their final moments, and he didn't want to hear them! It was a guarantee of their death, as if they had already accepted it… why couldn't they see that Lucas still believed in them? Why couldn't they see that they had so much more to offer than to just sacrifice themselves? Why couldn't Lucas stop caring?

"I saw how panicked you were when that thing was going to kill Samus," she whispered. "And I thought to myself… '_I don't like seeing that look on Lucas' face_.' If I had let Samus get killed… I would have just taken her life for granted… I wouldn't have appreciated it… because I know I won't be able to do anything now. Not without Popo…"

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. And smiled. And the only thing Lucas could think was,

_How can she smile in the face of death?_

"I'm s-sorry, Lucas…" A tear fell from her eye, and she started to shake. "F-for everything I did tonight…"

"It's okay," he whispered. "It's okay. You're okay. You're going to be okay."

"Yeah… I am." Her eyes fluttered closed again, and she didn't reopen them. Lucas sat there for the longest time, looking down at her, holding her hand, waiting for her to say something else. She didn't.

"_I wonder why you still think you can save everyone._"

Lucas looked up, recognizing the familiar voice instantly. He frowned, and finally let the tears fall from his face. "I thought you changed. I thought you were going to get us out of here without any more deaths."

"_Did I ever say that?_"

The blonde boy didn't reply.

"_Rules are rules, Lucas. The world you live in, outside of my virtual one, isn't a fun place. Humans are horrible and disgusting creatures. They steal, they rape, they kill. My world isn't much different from the real one._"

"You used to be human," Lucas whispered.

"_Used to be. And isn't that the key word? Congratulations, you've made it to Round Four._"

Lucas shuddered and closed his eyes, tilting his head to the ground. He didn't want to play anymore. No more rounds, no more deaths… he just wanted to go home.

"_Unfortunately, I will not be able to start the round until all the players have been gathered…_"

Olimar.

"_How hard can it be to find one Hocotatian? Apparently it's harder than it seems. I'm going to look through my virtual worlds again. Hang tight, Lucas._"

As if he could do anything different. And just like that, he found himself completely alone.

**OoO**

"_Round Three is complete. Fatalities are as follows: Toon Link, Nana. Round Four will begin shortly. The current time is six thirty. Participants have one hour and thirty minutes to complete the last two rounds. Participants still playing are as follows: Link, Roy, Olimar, Samus, Lucas._"

Peach let out a shaky breath at the sound of the children being listed as fatalities and stole a glance at Zelda. The brunette merely shook her head and laid it back in her hands. The little girl, and the little boy who looked so much like her boyfriend… gone.

Elsewhere in the audience, Claus slumped down in his seat. He was honestly surprised to hear that his brother was still alive, but he really was glad. If Lucas died… he didn't know what he would do. They had always been together, and they did everything together. He wouldn't be able to go through life with his brother suddenly missing from his side. It just wasn't a possible reality to him.

Farther down in the rows, Louie held a yellow Pikmin close to him. He was aware that the blue light emanating from his antennae might be bothering the people directly behind him, but they hadn't said anything. It wasn't as if they actually had anything to watch, but he was still self-conscious about it. He pulled his knees up to his chin and used the little Pikmin as a pillow between his legs and chest, much to the confusion of the plant-like creature. Nonetheless, it seemed to be alright with the arrangement after the initial shock.

"Do you think Olimar will be okay?" Louie asked it, stroking the back of its head soothingly.

The yellow Pikmin looked up at him and blinked. Despite its large ears, it had no idea what the Hocotatian was saying. All it understood were the whistle commands the blue man ordered. Nothing more, nothing less. Usually it was for food, or battle, or retrieving items… but it rather liked the comfortable silence it had fallen into, and nuzzled close to Louie's chin.

Louie looked down at it and sighed. He wasn't expecting an actual response from the creature, but sometimes he wished that he could communicate with the Pikmin. Though perhaps it was for the best that he couldn't understand them and they vice-versa; the first time he had encountered the little flower beings, he had tried to cook and eat them.

It was then that he realized that for the first time in months, he wasn't hungry.

Louie looked down at himself in awe. Not hungry…? That was an unfamiliar feeling to him. Usually what was on his mind were food and various ways to cook plenty of meals. He was a good cook (at least Olimar had said so), and he took pride in what he felt was his only calling.

But now that he had seemingly lost his appetite, he realized that he actually had something on his mind worth thinking about that _wasn't_ food. Sure, Olimar was his friend… but food usually took precedence over friends. It couldn't be that he was actually _worried _for the older male, right?

_... Olimar can take care of himself,_ he thought stubbornly, clutching the yellow Pikmin closer. The action elicited a squeak from the creature, and he nuzzled the top of its head. "It's okay. After this is all done and Olimar gets out, how about I make us a grand meal?"

Even though it couldn't understand him, the Pikmin squeaked in response, and he smiled.


	12. Parafonía

**A/N: Chapter Twelve - Greek - Parafonía - Dissonance**

**We're actually almost done with this story. There are four chapters left, not counting this one. An Epilogue is definitely possible, however, so if you'd like to see one, please say so in your review.**

**Also, a new poll is up, so if you want to vote on that, feel free to! ( It doesn't affect the outcome of the story, so it's not a blind poll. I've already decided who lives and who dies and when, so this one is more for fun than anything. C: )**

**Updates will be weekly from here on in!**

**OoO**

Time held no meaning to him.

He was trapped in a sort of limbo, not knowing which direction was up or down, left or right. Everything as far as he could see was of a pure yet empty white. There was nothing else there. It was quiet save for the constant low beeps of his suit, but even that wasn't enough to stave off the boredom.

_I'm dead_, he thought. _There is no other explanation for this. Whatever _he _did… it worked._

Briefly he wondered why he kept his suit even in the afterlife, but ultimately decided not to question it. What did he know? Perhaps whatever he died in would carry over to… wherever he was now. "This is it," he spoke aloud, his own voice sounding foreign to his ears. "I died after all. I'll never see anyone again…"

Tears pricked at his eyes, and he blearily tried to blink them away to no avail. He sniffed, wondering why, if he was dead, he still felt so _alive_ and why there was _nothing to do –_

"_You're not dead._"

What was that? A voice, not his own… it sounded familiar, however. Louie? No, it sounded younger…

"_I found you._"

_Found me?_ He thought, shaking his head."Where am I?"

"_I don't… I don't know_," the voice answered honestly. "_But I can get you out of here. You have to _trust _me…_"

There was nothing else he could do. Whatever hope the voice could give him, he would latch onto it. It said he wasn't dead. It could get him out. Back to… to…

Suddenly, he remembered.

"Sonic," he muttered, "the hedgehog… we were in space. And I…" he looked down at his hands. Bright red latex stared back up at him. The same color as his blood. "I killed him," he gulped. "Then there was Falcon and Lucas… Falcon killed me. He strangled me. But I woke up, and… there was a portal. I jumped in, and… and now I'm here. I don't even know where I am…"

"_I'm sorry, Olimar._" The voice spoke up again. Cirvex. "_I can get you out, but I'm afraid you'll have to rejoin the game. There's one round left, and we're all waiting for you. Please join us. It's almost done. _I'm_ almost done._"

Olimar shook his head. Everything hurt. He didn't want to go back. But again, he didn't want to forever be trapped in the limbo he was currently in…

"_Everyone is tired, Olimar. It isn't just you. We have an hour and a half left until the extended deadline is met. You have a chance to leave this all behind you, if you keep playing by the rules. And who knows… maybe a miracle will occur._"

The Hocotatian knew of miracles. He had a couple in just the past few hours. The fact that he _won _the first round, that he survived Falcon's attempt at murdering him… It was unbelievable.

But then again, he supposed his entire life had been full of miracles. _Starting with the Pikmin_, he thought.

"I want to go home," he spoke aloud. "I don't want to play anymore." _I never did._

"_Please, Olimar,_" the voice begged with a bare hint of desperation, "_Everyone is waiting. Show them that you're alright. I promise I will not interfere anymore. Just one more straightforward round, and what happens, happens._"

Olimar let out a defeated sigh. "It doesn't matter, though. I won't have a choice in this, will I? Even if you brought me back and I refused, the others, whoever they are at this point, would go on without me. And then I would simply get everyone killed."

Somewhere in front of him, a new portal opened. He stared blankly into it, the color spectrum swirling around and into each other in an almost-mesmerizing trance-like way. Unconsciously, his arm reached out toward it, inching himself closer.

"_Then do this for them_," Cirvex replied. "_Even if you have given up, don't let everyone else down. Lucas is still alive. You sacrificed yourself in the second round so that he may have another chance to live. He survived. You can protect him if you wish. It doesn't have to be about you if you don't want it to be._"

Often, Olimar wondered how he got himself into these kinds of situations. He chalked it all up to having simply abysmal luck. But there was the talk of miracles… and he'd experienced plenty. The fact that he was still apparently somehow alive was a miracle in itself. He wasn't fast like Sonic, or strong like Falcon, or even a quick thinker like he knew Louie could be in the rarest of times. He was just… Olimar. Plain little Ollie, without a hidden trait about him. And yet, there he was.

"I would hate to disappoint them," the small male muttered to more himself than the other he knew was listening. He sighed. "Very well. If I don't have a choice, there is no point in arguing what I can't fight against." His body floated closer to the portal. He wasn't sure himself exactly how he was moving, but the energy radiating off the rip in space that was gradually becoming stronger told him it didn't matter, as long as he got there.

"… _Thank you, Olimar,_" Cirvex said softly. "_And I'm sorry for putting you through this. I've had a lot to think over. My father. Lucas. You. You may hate me for everything I've done, and I would be fine with that. We're almost done. I promise._"

Whatever the malevolent AI had to say next, Olimar did not hear. As his small body floated ever so closer to the portal, the familiar sensation of warping overcame his body and fuzzed his hearing to the point whatever Cirvex said sounded like nothing but a faint murmur. He closed his eyes and let himself be engulfed by the energy, and suddenly white was replaced with black.

**OoO**

"Samus, how's your hand?"

"Still broken, if that's what you're wondering."

"Think Cirvex will fix it? I haven't heard from him in a while…" Lucas whispered. The two blondes sat next to each other, surrounded by their other two 'teammates'. The other two males were awake, but they didn't say a word. They simply looked at who was still alive and evaluated who they lost, and sat down to rest without offering conversation.

Samus scoffed. "I haven't needed any of his healing at all this entire night. I don't need it now."

"But Samus," the boy looked up. "What are you going to do if this next round requires us using our hands? What will you do then?"

"I'll find a way," the woman responded. "Nothing is impossible for me. If I try, I will always succeed."

"Well, isn't that just dandy," Link spoke up for the first time since he regained consciousness. "Why don't you give him a motivational speech about how we can all get out of here if we work together or some crap like that? Cheer him up. He'll just die in the end anyway."

"What the hell is your problem?" Roy snapped, turning to face the blonde male. "We're still here, we're still alive. The poor kid just had to kill some copy of his _brother_. No offense, but their bond is deeper than what yours and Zelda's. He's just a kid. Don't be an asshole."

"Sorry if I can't keep up this positive and optimistic outlook appeal when we're trapped in a damn death game," Link shot back. "Don't you say _anything_ about Zelda."

"I'll say what I want to say about Zelda! I haven't met the chick, but she has to be pretty desperate to go for someone like _you_."

"What did you just say?"

"I said—"

"_Stop it!_" Lucas shouted. Samus and Roy flinched at the sudden loud voice between them, but Link's gaze simply snapped down to the blonde boy. Lucas stared hard back at him. "I don't care what you say or do, Link, but I thought we already agreed not to fight anymore! This is why we're such a horrible group! We got our asses kicked by those copies of our friends and family; we could barely even function as a proper group! We had our own separate battles for the most part!"

Roy blinked down at him, then looked back up to glare at Link. "Look what you did, asshole! You got the kid swearing!"

"_Me_? I'm not the one throwing insults at people I don't even know!"

"They aren't even listening to me," Lucas sighed, bringing himself closer to Samus. Slowly, she wrapped her arm around him. "We're all going to die."

"Maybe this next round won't require us working together," Samus offered. "We've had two rounds in a row of that. Depending on how many people die in this round, we should be close to the end."

"We had ten people die in the first round, three in the second, and two in the third," Lucas calculated. "That's… a pretty big jump between the first and second rounds. Think he's going to go with one person dying each round from here on in?"

"There's no time for that," Samus shook her head. "If anything, I suspect either this round or the next will be the last round, designed to kill all but one of us off. And that person will be the survivor."

"What do you think the round is going to be like?"

"Probably similar to the first. An all-out battle royale, between all four of us, five if Olimar ever decides to show up. Last one standing wins and gets to see their friends and family again. And that will be the end."

Lucas looked down, contemplating. Samus stared at the two males verbally insulting each other, ready to jump in and intervene if and when the match became physical. "Samus," Lucas' timid voice caught her attention and she turned her head downwards, "I don't want any of us to die. Even though Link and Roy are fighting, I think they could become really close friends if it weren't for this game."

"… No one wants to die, kiddo. And I'm sure they feel the same way as well. I don't know how this will all work out, but we'll see what happens in the end. If you make it out alive, you're going to go far, kid."

"You mean it?" Lucas smiled sadly at her.

Samus ruffled his blonde hair. "I mean it."

In front of them, Link and Roy seemed to tire out from their insult war, and slumped down next to the remaining female and child. "I give up," Roy muttered, exhausted. "Sorry for insulting your girlfriend."

"Sorry for insulting _you_," Link responded in the same state as his redheaded rival. "This is stupid. I'm just… I want to do what's best for everyone, including myself. I'm irritated and annoyed because I can't do a _damn _thing to stop all of this. The only thing I _can _do is play along with that bastard's evil game."

"Now we're just repeating everything that's already been said, just in different words," Samus pointed out to Lucas, who giggled. While Roy and Link grew a little more hostile to each other, the previously stoic blonde seemed to open up to Lucas, which he was grateful for.

Link groaned. "Shut up. When's this next round starting, anyway? We don't have much time, right?"

"_I'm glad you asked, Link._" Cirvex's voice echoed throughout the area, causing the remaining four to jump. "_It will start in just a few minutes, actually. First, I need to explain what to do. But before even that, I would like to introduce someone… or rather, _re-_introduce._"

A small form materialized in front of them, and Lucas gasped at the familiar being that appeared when the light died down. "Olimar!"

Link and Roy blinked; so _this _was Olimar? This small little creature? How could someone like _him_ ever make it to the final five?

"… Hello, Lucas," Olimar smiled wearily. "I'm glad to see you're well."

"Where were you?" The blonde boy moved from beside Samus to get a better look at the Hocotatian, as if he couldn't quite believe the older male was really there. "You missed an entire round, and I don't even know what happened to Captain Falcon…"

It was then that Olimar realized that even _he _didn't know what became of his former friend. The last memory he had of the much taller man was of being strangled by him and left for dead… but after that, he hadn't a clue what happened to him.

"_Falcon's dead, and that's all you need to know,_" Cirvex snapped, albeit a little quickly. Lucas shrunk back, and Olimar closed his eyes and nodded his head. "_Anyway, welcome back, Olimar. You may have gotten a free pass out of Round Three, but unfortunately you will have to play with the others if you wish to survive Round Four._"

Purple lines of data materialized above and beneath and all around the final five, shooting off into the far distance and creating even more coded lines from their forms. The survivors could just barely make out the shape of many trees being formed, possibly a forest in the creation, before color burst into view.

The ground turned a rather dark and eerie green, same with the leaves of the trees that had been formed by the data just moments prior. Dark brown bark shot up from the ground and connected to each leaf, and the survivors did indeed find themselves surrounded by the nature.

"Please don't tell me we're going to be hunted like animals," Lucas whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Roy visibly shuddered, not liking the idea of the possibility at all.

"_Oh, no, nothing like that, Lucas._" Cirvex assured them. "_This round is rather simple, if I do say so myself._"

The sky was the last to materialize over them. Over a million stars burst onto the scene as black washed over on top of them all, settling a dusk evening where the only light was of the bright gaseous forms above. Olimar blinked, unused to the idea of being outdoors already, while the other survivors groaned.

"Night again," Link muttered. "Great. Only this time we're going to be smacking face first into trees." Roy held back an insult.

"Our eyes will adjust to the darkness after some time," Samus pointed out. "It won't give us night vision, but we at least will have some form of being able to tell what's in front of us and where everyone is."

"Yeah," Lucas nodded his approval. "Whatever this round is, I know we can handle it, guys. We have Olimar here with us, too! We can overcome this."

Olimar smiled sheepishly and almost blushed at the child's words. How innocent he was. Such a shame that he had to be forced into this twisted game…

"_Welcome to the final round._"

A deafening boom suddenly erupted in the distance, and the remaining survivors ducked down to cover their ears. "What was that?!" Roy shouted, eyes widening. "Shit, we're so close…"

Ignoring the scared survivors, Cirvex continued, "_Here, you all actually have a chance of surviving… If you work together. You find yourselves in a maze of sorts, a forest with trees obscuring your vision and impeding your movements. All you have to do… is get out._"

Link blinked. "Is that it? There's a catch, isn't there? There has to be."

"_But of course._"

The loud noise rang again, but this time it was closer. Roy scrambled to his feet and hastily pulled up Lucas and Samus with him. Link likewise did the same, but to Olimar, who was closest. Hesitantly, the group huddled close together and looked around, ready for whatever was going to be thrown at them.

"_Chasing you throughout this forest will be four creatures I am very sure some of you are already well met with. If you want to escape this game and round alive, at least two of those creatures must be dead. But can you really defeat your enemies with the weapons you hold now?_"

Roy looked down at his two weapons; his trusty hammer and the sword that used to belong to Toon Link. He figured he was probably the best off, having the most means to defend himself. Tightly he gripped the two, determination flaring in his eyes. He'd get out of here alive. He would.

Link held up the dual sword that used to belong to Pit; it helped him before, it could certainly help him now. "I'll see you again soon, Zelda," he muttered. "Just wait for me a little more…"

Olimar blinked as he realized he still had his reflector from the first round with him. He held it out in front of himself and decided it could definitely come in handy if the creatures chasing after them had projectiles. If not… he'd come up with something. He'd been lucky so far.

Samus gripped the dagger she had taken tightly in her non-injured hand. Her battle experience was nothing to be trifled with, and she felt positive in her own abilities. While she could not say the same for the others, she at least felt confident in herself to get her and Lucas out alive. _Wait_, she thought to herself, looking at the others that had survived thus far, _If we all have a chance of surviving this round… what is Cirvex going to do about his 'only one survivor' rule?_

Lucas looked down at his bandaged hands and sighed. Cirvex hadn't healed him yet, and by how things were progressing, he wasn't sure if the machine was even going to. "My hands," he said aloud, trying anyway, "I can't do anything with how they are right now…"

"_Ah, you're right. Let me fix that for you._"

He flinched as he felt the wounds close. The stripped cloth unraveled itself and fell off his hands, good as new. All blood had been wiped completely off, and the boy felt as if he was never hurt. _The joys of being in a virtualized world_, he thought grimly to himself.

"Lucas, here," Samus reached over and quickly plucked Toon Link's sword out of Roy's hands (ignoring his cry of 'hey!') to give to the unprotected boy. "This will put you on even terms with us. Use it wisely, okay?"

"Um, okay," Lucas nodded. "Thank you, Samus."

Roy sighed. Oh well. He wasn't going to bother getting in a fight with Samus now. It wouldn't do the group any good.

"_You might want to stick together for this round, too,_" Cirvex spoke up. "_If any of you get separated… let's just say the past will catch up with you. Whether or not you handle it well is completely up to you, of course._"

The remaining five looked questioningly at one another, about to ask just what the dead boy was going on about when yet another roar echoed through the forest. They flinched, but didn't drop down.

"_That's your warning. You may want to start running now. Or, just stand there and wait for them to find you. After all, two of them must be dead before any of you can leave. If anyone tries to leave and the requirement has not been met, you'll meet your immediate end._

_Round Four, begin._"

And with that, all five began to run.

**OoO**

"Excuse me," an unfamiliar voice spoke up next to her, and Peach whirled around, caught by surprise. "I was called here by my friends and was supposed to meet them here… I don't suppose you know where they are, do you?"

Peach blinked at the newcomer. He seemed polite enough, but his appearance was more than enough to shock her. Rather than responding negatively, however, she calmed herself down and realized that she had already seen creatures similar to him about the place. But she hadn't seen them in quite some time… "I'm sorry," she said. "I heard and saw them earlier, but I guess they must have left. They may not have wanted to stay any longer now that…" she trailed off, unsure if he knew.

"Now that Sonic is dead?" He finished for her, and she nodded. He took the available seat next to her and gave her a questioning glance. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"No, not at all."

"Thank you." He put his head in his hands and stared ahead at the stage, where only five pods remained on top. "I wonder how it happened. How he died, I mean. He was so strong."

Peach didn't respond, but it was then that she noticed the new male wasn't alone. Behind him trailed another figure, similar to the one who had been talking to her in appearance, but the complete opposite in color. The dark one studied her with red eyes before taking his own seat next to the more animated by comparison white one.

"By the way," the white one interrupted the blonde's thoughts, turning to face her. "What's your name? If my friends are still here I'd like to be able to tell them where I was if they can't find me."

"… Peach," she answered, feeling uncomfortable. The black one continued to stare at her. "My name is Peach."

"Peach," he said, testing out the name. "It's pretty. I like it. Very fitting for a pretty lady like you."

The princess nodded, too unnerved by the silent newcomer to accept the other's flattering compliment. Briefly she wished Zelda would return from her bathroom break as soon as possible. At least then it would give her an excuse to talk to someone else, even if that someone was an emotional wreck.

Finally the black one looked away to fix his gaze upon the stage and Peach visibly relaxed. She didn't know why she was so afraid of him, as he made no move to harm or even talk to her (yet). Eventually she settled it down to just simply his appearance being alarming, even though _she_ of all people knew better than to judge others superficially. His staring hadn't helped either…

"So is this what everyone's been doing all night? Just sitting here?" She almost didn't notice the white one start up a new conversation.

"Yeah," she answered quickly, trying to sound as normal as her voice would allow. "We all just sit here, hoping that one of ours will make it out alright."

"I see. It sounds pretty boring, though," he shrugged. "What about you? Who are you waiting for?"

She looked away from him to gaze at the empty space where Luigi's pod once was. "… No one, now."

"… Oh," he understood and looked genuinely upset. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me."

"No, it's alright." She shook her head. "He wasn't my family, or boyfriend, or anything like that. He was just… a good friend. I guess you can say it's hard to believe he's really gone."

"I know what you mean. That's probably how it is… _was_, with me and Sonic. We weren't terribly close; I haven't even known him for very long, but… I've heard all about his exploits and adventures. I kind of hoped I'd be able to become really good friends with him someday. I guess that can't happen now."

His voice didn't crack, he didn't choke on his words, and he didn't sound even remotely close to crying. And yet, Peach knew that what he was saying was genuine. There was something about his voice that seemed to be full of… regret. Remorse, for not getting to know him sooner.

"There are always other people you can become good friends with," she told him after thinking it over. "That doesn't mean you can simply forget all about Sonic, though. Simply remember him, and in a way, he'll be immortal. Just by keeping him in your memories, the times you _have_ had with him, and in a way he'll always be with you. That's what I'm going to do. Luigi wouldn't want me to be sad about him forever, because there's nothing I could have to save him save stop him from going in before this whole thing started. So I won't forget him, but I won't mope about it right now either. There will be time to cry later. Now, I… I have to be strong for Zelda."

"I see… Is Zelda in… in there? Or…"

Peach shook her head, smiling the faintest smile. "No, she came here with her boyfriend, Link. We were reporting this event since it was supposed to be huge. I mean, a virtual reality video game, completely immersive! Then all this happened, and now she's probably crying alone in the bathrooms and washing her face to hide it. I won't bother her, since she wants to be left alone right now. But after tonight, no matter what happens to Link, I will never let her, or anyone else I value, go ever again."

"Ah. I assume Link is the one trapped inside?"

"Yes. And he's still alive, too. We're hopeful for him, but we don't want the others in there to die either… It's taken an emotional toll on all of us."

"Could…" the light male thought for a minute, "Do we know for sure if our loved ones are dead? Maybe the machine is just holding them until the winner is decided."

"Cirvex said he'd unleash the lethal gas as soon as they died in the virtual world," Peach brought down his idea. "Even if we were to rescue the ones who've already lost, it's already too late to save them." She looked down at her hands.

"But do we know if he's telling the truth? It could just be a giant lie, to get all of your hopes down. He wouldn't be able to do a thing if we were to break them out of the pods, would he?"

"… We don't know where he takes them. Directly under the stage, to the basement, we don't know. This place is huge; it would take too long to check in the time we have left. No one has really done anything…" She gripped the fabric of her dress tightly. "We didn't even try…"

"Ah, hey, I didn't mean to bring you down like that," the newcomer lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. Peach noticed a sort of design on the fabric of his glove, one she didn't recognize. She looked away from his hand to look at his golden eyes. He smiled lightly. "… If you want, I can be your friend when we're all done here. Someone else to lean on when you feel like crying. I'll listen."

She blinked the tears that had formed at the bottom of her eyes away (she promised herself she wouldn't cry!) and gently took his hand in hers. He definitely seemed nice enough… and because he didn't get the chance to know Sonic personally, she wouldn't deny him the chance to know her. "… I would like that."

"I'm glad. It's nice to meet you, Peach." He looked genuinely happy now, and Peach found herself smiling back at him, however small it was. Even in the middle of a tragic event, she was able to make a new friend…

"Oh," she noticed, "There's something I want to ask you."

"Really? Go ahead, ask me anything." He turned to smile at her.

"Your name. I haven't gotten it yet…"

"… Oh." He snapped his fingers and looked a little cross with himself for not even saying his name. He had already asked for hers and hadn't even given his in return; she must think of him as terribly rude now. Without warning, he grabbed her hand in his once more and shook it.

"Silver."

**OoO**

"How much longer are we going to run?" Roy gasped, catching his breath as the group rested at the bottom of a large oak tree. "We have to fight these things at some point; we can't run forever. We have to save our strength!"

"You want to run in there blindly and get yourself killed? Be my guest," Samus snapped at him, standing up. Roy kept his mouth shut, not wanting to get in any more arguments.

"But what are we going to do?" Lucas asked. "We don't know what they are, and we won't until we let them get close enough to find us. By then it'll already be too late to run if we aren't prepared…"

"Well, we aren't going to get any more prepared than we are now," Link groaned. "Didn't Cirvex say something about us already knowing what these things are? If we've beaten 'em once, we can do it again."

"Is there anyone we know who we've beaten before that would like to try and beat us again?" Olimar asked the group. He thought for a few seconds and immediately didn't like what his mind came up with. He'd fought many monsters before, but with the help of his Pikmin. Without them…

"I've got a few," Roy said after a minute of thinking. "But none that sounds like whatever's chasing us. Mine are all human."

"I have a couple in mind as well," Samus muttered. "But with more than one of us here, it shouldn't be too hard to take down. I had my power suit at the time, but I'm stronger now."

"Oh, let's go down the list, shall we?" Link shrugged. "There's Ganondorf, Vaati, Ganondorf again… really, it's easier to make a list of who _doesn't_ want to kill me. None of you would be on that list, by the way."

"Expected, given the nature of this game," Roy said.

"I… might," Lucas spoke up. "I don't know if they'll be able to compare to any of yours, though…"

"I have some monsters than may be after me," Olimar announced, "But most of them are fairly slow. I don't think they would have the speed required to quickly catch up to us. They're fairly large, too, but I think we would have noticed if there were guns being fired at us or if the forest was burning down."

The others stared at him. "I don't want to know what kind of enemies you have, Olimar," Lucas shivered.

"All in favor of waiting for the monsters to catch up and fight them now, say I," Roy raised his hand. The other four didn't respond, instead they looked at each other and slowly shook their heads. "Oh, come on, guys! We have to fight them soon or else we're all going to die anyway! Might as well get this over with, right?"

"I want to know exactly what these creatures are before we run in there waving our weapons around like idiots," Samus responded, narrowing her eyes. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"What good is being _safe_ if we're all going to be _dead_?" Roy waved his arms, careful not to hit anything with his hammer. "Samus, I know you have your own agenda and you like to do things your way, but listen to me for once! We can't afford to waste much time. We only have what, an hour left before we all drop dead? That isn't enough! We can't _wait_!"

"Stop yelling so loudly; you'll attract the beasts," Link muttered.

"Good!" Roy shouted. Lucas covered his ears and muttered silent prayers to himself. "If you don't want to stick around, then keep running! When you make it out of the forest, what will you do then? _Nothing_, if I get killed and two of them aren't dead."

"We can always scout and hide when we hear them coming," Olimar suggested. "We don't have to charge straight into them."

"And if they notice us, we won't be on guard and we're dead," Roy shot him down. "Come on, guys. My plan, while not completely foolproof, is the best we've got. If you die, at least you died trying. And we know we've already fought these creatures before! We can beat them again! The odds are on our side!"

"How does Cirvex even know what we've been up against, anyway?" Samus wondered.

"He's a creeper who probably can either look into our memories or did some research on us somehow. I don't know," Link shook his head. "I don't even care what he does at this point. All that matters is getting out of this alive."

"How are you going to get out of this alive if you won't fight, Link?" Roy walked over to the blond elf and stared him down. "We've fought for our lives to get to where we are; why are you giving up now?"

"Hey, no one said I was giving up." Link stood on his own two feet and shoved the shorter redhead backwards, not roughly. "Why don't you just mind your own business and go fight the beasts yourself if you want to so badly? No one is stopping you from going out and getting yourself killed. Just go ahead. We won't follow, but we won't stop you either. Do what you want."

Roy bit his lip and glared at the other male. Samus, Lucas, and Olimar watched the scene with anticipation, hoping neither would hurt each other. "… Fine," Roy sank. "I'll leave. Since that's what you want so badly, I'll leave you all alone. Have fun getting out of here alive." He sent the rest of them one last hurt look before turning around and setting off on his own, away from the others.

Lucas stared after him with wide eyes. "No, Roy! Cirvex said we should stick together!" He immediately broke into a run to chase after the redhead, but Link stopped him by holding out the dual sword. The blond child stopped himself before he could run into it. "Link! Stop him!"

"If that's what he wants, I'm not going to hold him back," Link muttered. "I'm going to find the exit to the forest myself. I'll come back and get you all when I do. Don't die on me." He lowered his weapon and marched off in a direction opposite Roy, despite Lucas' constant complaints and attempts to get him to stop and stay.

"Why is this happening to us?" Lucas muttered after both males had gone. "Why can't we work as a group? I know we can do it; we've done it before! So why…?"

"I'm sorry, Lucas," Samus walked up to the distraught boy and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Men are idiots. Don't grow up to be like them."

Olimar stayed behind, looking at the two who had remained with melancholy. He was unused to teamwork not working out; he relied on the Pikmin so much and they in return relied on him… it was a mutual partnership, and it _worked_. The idea of something _not_ working for once… surprised him. There had to be a way to get everyone back together. If not for himself, then at least to get one of the other two out safely.

"We… should get going," he said aloud after a lengthy period of silence. "We won't be able to do anything just standing around here."

"This whole thing has taken a toll on all of us," Samus spoke up. "I remember Roy was actually pretty friendly in the beginning, no matter how annoying it was. Never thought he would do something like this, honestly. He wasn't thinking straight. No one is anymore."

"Link, too?" Lucas asked.

"Link, too." Samus nodded.

"Then we'll fix things. Everything will be alright. We just have to show them that if we work together, we actually stand a better chance than going off on our own. I know it can work. They know it too; they're just too angry to see it." Lucas clenched his fist. "Even if four of us have to die in an hour… I won't go down without reuniting the group. I shouldn't have let them go off in the first place, but I'll get them back… or die trying."

"You won't die, Lucas." Olimar smiled. "I'll do my best to make sure we all get through this round safely."

"I guess I'll help too," Samus shrugged. "The sooner we get this done, the better."

"I'm glad…" Lucas sighed. Before the three who had remained together could take another step, the ground started to rumble. A loud roar came from directly behind them, and they instantly knew that they had been found.

"Damn, we stayed too long," Samus muttered, whipping around and brandishing her blade. Next to her, Lucas did the same with his sword, albeit a little shakily. "Get ready to either fight or run." Olimar readied his reflector.

"_Oh look, your first friend is here. Shame none of you three know him. Ah well. Have fun._"

Through the trees burst a lizard-like creature, wielding a giant ball and chain. Steel armor surrounded every inch of its body save for its tail, which swung back and forth erratically. It roared once more, and it took all three survivors' willpower not to flinch and let their guard down. This was the same creature that had been tailing them from the beginning.

"Here we go," Samus muttered, and the three leaped forward, ready to fight.


	13. Zapomnić

**A/N: Chapter Thirteen - Belarusian - Zapomnić – Remember**

**Poll's still up, if anyone still wants to vote! I'll admit the results are pretty interesting so far, heheh. I'll take this time to remind all of you that it's just for fun, however, and will **_**not**_** affect the ending of the story.**

**Also, please tell me if you'd like an Epilogue or not, since we only have three chapters left after this!**

**OoO**

"No one ever listens to my ideas, even if it's the best chance we've got…"

Roy muttered disdainfully to himself as he roamed the forest, keeping an eye out for any creatures or monsters that may be nearby. He wished he still had Toon Link's sword with him, but he didn't resent Samus for giving it to Lucas. The kid needed a weapon, anyway. But why couldn't she have given him Roy's hammer instead?

"Probably could do a lot more good with that sword than Lucas," Roy groaned and looked down at his only weapon. It was all he had now, and he would have to make good use of it. He refused to die here, not in the final round. He was so close!

A rustling in the bushes nearby caught his attention, and he swerved to greet the newcomer, hammer at the ready. A small squirrel popped out, big round eyes blinking at him. Roy let out a relieved breath and lowered his weapon, but still remained on his guard. He didn't know how far he had traveled from the group, or for how long, but he didn't hear the roar of the beast that was chasing them anymore and it was making his nerves stand on end.

The forest was dark and he could barely see a thing, even after trying to get his eyes used to the almost nonexistent lighting. He knew the cry of one of the monsters, but didn't know of the others. Were they big? Small? Silent, or as loud as the first? He didn't even know how many of them there were. There could be hundreds of them crawling around the forest, and he didn't know how big the place was!

He shook his head. He had to keep himself focused. Perhaps separating himself from the group wasn't the best idea, but the others not agreeing with him… He just wanted to prove himself that he was useful and could come up with ideas and strategies. What he said back there was true; even if they had come to the end of the forest, what then? They could do nothing without killing two monsters, and their journey would have been for naught.

"How much time do we have left?" He asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. The only response he received was a low wind blowing through the forest, rustling leaves and irritating the annoyed redhead even further. But he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, just a little. It was his fault he stormed off from the group, and he didn't think they would take him back soon. He set out to kill one of the beasts himself, and damn it, he would do it!

If Cirvex didn't want to answer his questions, that was fine. If the others had no confidence or trust in him, that was also fine. He was fighting for himself now.

Roy looked down at the forest floor, wallowing in both his determination and stupidity. Now that he had been alone for some time and had gotten to actually think… if, by any chance, he would come across any of the other survivors again, he would apologize. He should have been more willing to listen to their ideas rather than insisting upon his own. Even if it was the most logical one.

A moving shadow caught the corner of his eyes and he jumped back, senses aware and ready to battle. On the forest floor, a large and slick shadow slithered across, dark energy radiating off of it. Roy swallowed and readied his hammer. The arrival didn't make a sound, but steadily crept toward him. The redhead took a few steps back until he bumped into a tree. Cursing silently to himself, he eyed the creature, waiting for it to make a new move.

Slowly, a form started to emerge from the creeping shadows. It was of a dark purple color and blended in almost perfectly among the darkness. Roy could make out a horn and multiple spike-like objects on its back, but couldn't tell much else. A glowing red eye peered at him, causing a shudder to run through the redhead's body. It stood on numerous sharp-tipped claws and towered over him. Oddly enough, it didn't make a single sound. Instead, it continued to stare at Roy with its one eye, ready for the survivor to make a move.

_Shit_, was the one word that ran through Roy's head. He was in over his head, he already knew, but Cirvex didn't have to rub it in! He stood completely still; perhaps it would be like a tyrannosaurus rex and not be able to see him…

It lifted one of its sharp legs, and immediately Roy knew he had to move. The leg impaled the tree where his head was just a mere second before, and the redhead knew he stood no chance. He started to run.

_I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid_, he thought furiously to himself as he wove through the trees. Behind him, he could hear the creature let out a noise of frustration and rip its leg out, uprooting the entire tree with it. _Who the hell knows what this is? And how can I defeat it?_ He needed to find the group again. Not even ten minutes after disbanding from them, and he was already begging to reunite. How ironic.

His hammer stood no chance against something like that, and he was positive his fists weren't going to fare much better. Perhaps if he had Toon Link's sword, he could have had a standing point, but as of his current arsenal… he had nothing. That thing could slice through him in an instant, and it would have had he not ran for his life. "I'm not so much of an idiot, though," he tried to reason with himself, "At least I knew when to run. Haha…"

Roy's eyes widened and he came to a stop when suddenly a bright light flashed in front of him. "What the hell?!" Behind him he could hear the creature following him in the direction he had ran, sharp blades cutting into the forest floor and ripping out chunks of earth as it moved along. Then he heard nothing, and assumed that the creature reverted back into its creepy liquid shadow state.

The light died down, and nothing of immediate concern happened. Roy blinked and held his hands out and inspected himself to make sure his body hadn't been altered in some shape or form, but he felt perfectly fine. "What _was_ that…?" Behind him another tree toppled over, bringing him back to his previous mindset. He continued to run for his life.

He wove himself past trees and under hanging branches and over bushes, trying not to get tripped up lest he become demon food. There wasn't another word to describe what that thing was; it was larger than him in every way and its entire weapon was a body. He would entitle it the spawn of Satan himself if he could just get out of this mess alive and completely intact.

Roy didn't want to shout or cry out on the off chance that the group he had left behind was somehow close by; he didn't want to attract more of the beasts even though it was the very thing he had set out to do. "I messed up…!" he groaned to himself for finality before jumping over yet another bush and almost landing on a rabbit. He didn't bother questioning Cirvex about the randomly placed animals; all that mattered was outrunning that _thing_ and finding the others. Fast.

Another bright light shone in his face and he let out a shout as suddenly it felt as if he were running on air. The forest trees vanished in an instant around him, and he found himself in an empty white space. He looked behind him, and the creature was gone as well. "What the…?" He scrambled to get his bearings; he wasn't standing on anything! He was floating, he was alone, and he was very confused.

"Uwahh?!" He shouted as suddenly it felt like he was plummeting a thousand feet. His hair and clothes whipped all around him and it took all of his self-restraint not to scream. He forced his jaw shut and closed his eyes to keep the lashing air out. He didn't know what was happening… but he wanted it to stop.

And suddenly, it did. His feet landed surprisingly lightly on solid ground, even though Roy could see nothing there. His heart pounded in his ears, and it took a minute for him to catch his breath. All around him was still white. He was still stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Was it a glitch? Perhaps he stumbled on some faulty coding and completely screwed the entire virtual world? No, because then the others would be with him, right? Or were they somewhere else in the vast expanse of nothing? His head was starting to hurt and he shut his eyes, shaking his head.

"_That's nothing, compared to how you made my brother feel._"

He jerked his head up with a painful crack and spun on his heels. Directly behind him stood a beautiful young girl with azure eyes and light brown hair. She glared up at him from beneath her bangs, and Roy took a step back. Her voice… didn't sound natural. It sounded as if she were speaking to him underwater. Her voice was muffled and unclear, and it seemed to transfer directly to Roy's head. Like… she was speaking to him telepathically.

"_Don't tell me you've forgotten already? Who you killed in the first round of this game. My brother. Ike._"

A shudder involuntarily ran through his body. There it was again. Her voice unnerved him to no end, and she claimed to be the sister of the man he had killed just a few hours earlier… Suddenly, he remembered what Cirvex warned them about splitting up or getting separated.

_If any of you get separated… let's just say the past will catch up with you._

_So this is what he meant, huh_, he thought disdainfully as he eyed the small girl. He didn't think she could hurt him, but he had come to expect anything in Cirvex's game. "You aren't real," he told her.

"_Whether I'm real or not doesn't matter. The point is, you killed my brother. And now… now I'll have to live through life knowing that my brother is dead because of _you_._" Her lips were moving, but it didn't sound as if anything she said came from her throat. Everything transferred directly to Roy's brain, and that alone was able to convince him that he wasn't talking to the real deal.

"I won't talk to another hallucination," he declared. "If Ike's real sister wants to talk to me once I'm out of here, then I'll let her. I'll let her do anything to me. Scream at me, punch me, kick me, damn me to hell, she can do whatever she wants. I'll take on what she dishes out. But I know you. You're just one of Cirvex's creations, designed to make me feel guilty and hinder my performance for the rest of this round. But I won't let you. Get out of here."

Her eyes widened and she looked genuinely surprised. Roy had to admit, Cirvex's clones _were_ pretty good. Mist looked pretty, but he was sure the girl would look prettier back in the real world, where he would be able to appreciate everything more. The fake then narrowed her eyes and resumed her initial glare.

"_So you're going to keep going through this round knowing that you're a monster? He had a family._"

"I did what I had to do. I made Ike's death as painless as I possibly could. I'm sure he would have done the same for me. Speaking of which, if it was Ike here right now and not me, you wouldn't be here either, would you? Instead it could be Lilina, or someone else important to me, talking to him." He kept his mind away from that battle. He didn't want to remember the details too closely. "Get me back to the forest. I have nothing to talk to you about."

The words came surprisingly easy. He had experience with Cirvex's clones. He could talk himself out of this one, and hopefully the girl wouldn't get it in her virtual mind to attack him. He didn't want to see that.

Clearly she could see that she wasn't getting to him, and her eyes softened. When she opened her mouth next, Roy didn't expect her to sound like Cirvex.

"_Good job. You handled it well. I'll send you back to the forest now._ _Have fun running._"

He blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was back in the forest in the exact same spot he was in before the light had flashed in front of him.

_That was almost _too_ easy_, he thought, inspecting himself. _Cirvex is slipping._

A tree toppled and collided with the forest floor behind him, and he remembered just what he was doing before he was transported to… wherever that place was. "Shit," he muttered before immediately breaking out into a sprint, just barely avoiding a swing of the monster's legs behind him. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he ran for survival, turning left and right to get the creature off his tail.

He hoped the others weren't as screwed as he was.

**OoO**

Link didn't know how much time had passed since he left the other three behind, but to him it felt like forever.

He hadn't encountered a single thing in his quest to find the end, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. He supposed it was good, since that meant he wouldn't be killed anytime soon, but it was also bad because there were still those monsters running around the forest potentially killing the teammates he had left behind.

The blond could have taken them with him, but what good would it do? Chances are, sooner or later, they would be separated anyway had they run into anything particularly dangerous. They lasted this far; they could all handle themselves. At least, he knew Samus could handle herself. Lucas he wasn't so sure about, but he knew the kid could fight if it came to it. He survived the first round, after all.

Olimar… he had no clue about. First impressions didn't leave very many good thoughts on the smallest and shortest player still alive, but Link supposed looks could be deceiving if he was still alive. Though Cirvex had mentioned him getting a free pass out of the third round… how the hell did the shorty manage to do that?

He shook his head. _Focus, Link_, he thought to himself, walking past the trees of the forest whilst keeping an eye out for any creatures. _It doesn't matter how he got here. I'll try to get as many people as I can to the end of this, and we'll see what happens there. I don't know how Cirvex plans on finishing things with an hour left on the clock and five people last I knew where still alive when he planned on having only one survivor… But I won't let this opportunity go to waste. I'll keep as much of us alive as I can._

_Even Roy_.

Despite the numerous arguments the two had over the course of the previous round and the beginning of the current one, Link still felt a bit protective over the redhead. If he wasn't forced to kill him, he would make sure he lasted as long as possible. They were both tired and very stressed; they had been with each other at their worst. Perhaps when this was all over and done with, if they were both somehow still alive by the end, they could be… friends.

His foot stumbled over a large root and he cursed silently to himself, grabbing hold and steadying himself on the nearest tree to make sure he wouldn't fall. _I have to pay more attention_. He surveyed the area around him. Trees covered his view as far as he could see, but he knew there had to be an end somewhere. He had only walked in a straight path since he left the group; once he found the exit, all he had to do was turn back and get them…

_But I doubt they would just stand there,_ he thought disdainfully. No doubt they would be on the move lest they fall prey to whatever may be hunting them. He didn't know what Samus would order the group to do (as he was sure she would appoint herself as the temporarily leader; at least until Link returned where he'd take over whether she wanted him to or not), but as long as it kept them alive, he couldn't care less. He'd find them sooner or later.

Link took only one step before hearing a rustle in the bushes nearby. He readied his dual sword, ready to lash out at whatever may come to attack him. A small rabbit poked its head out of the leaves, and the blond nearly jumped the poor creature right then and there. His heart pounded in his chest as the rabbit blinked once at him and hopped away quickly, as if frightened.

"Damn rabbit," he muttered, "Give me a heart attack, why don't you?" He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head for being spooked so easily, and lowered his blades.

He was about to take another step when suddenly his entire vision flashed white.

_What the hell? _His eyes widened and he took a step backwards, his back bumping into the wooden oak of the tree behind him. He looked around, waiting for the flash to return, but nothing happened. Only the relative silence of the woods met his ears, and he could only see the faint outlines of the leaves that decorated the bushes and forest floor. _There's no way I could have imagined that._

He took another step, more tentative and cautious, expecting his vision to flash again. Still, nothing happened, and Link was now more wary than ever. _Cirvex is messing with me_, he concluded, but didn't let his guard down. His hands gripped the dual blades tightly and he bit his lip, inching forward slowly. The leaves _crunched_ underneath the soles of his shoes, but other than that there were no noises.

Somewhere behind him, a loud _boom_ erupted. The blond jumped and spun around, holding one of the blades out in front of him defensively and the other just below. Nothing was there. _What the hell_. His breathing became ragged as his stress meters went over the edge, and his paranoia kicked into full gear. He had learned to expect the unexpected throughout his many journeys with Zelda across Hyrule and be on guard at all times, especially in areas crawling with critters that wanted to kill him, but this was getting to be too much. Usually by now he would have at least spotted what had been stalking him…

His pointed ears twitched as the sound of branches snapping and trees being bowled over reached them. Something was coming. _Finally_, he thought. Oddly enough, he started to calm down now that he knew he wasn't just hearing things; something was actually there. Apparently it had decided to mess with him first before showing its ugly…

… It didn't have a face. Link could hardly even call its form an actual _body_, as it seemed to just be a giant creature made completely of water on the rolls of a road roller. It didn't seem to have any eyes; rather, it simply ran over anything and everything that came in its path. The blond moved out of the way and waited for it to pass by. If this was one of the monsters Cirvex had warned them about, it didn't seem too bad—

Suddenly, the creature changed course and started to move towards him once again. _Huh?_ Link quickly moved out of the way before he could be crushed, but again, the water monster changed direction and continued to stalk him. There was no way it could see him; the thing didn't even have eyes! _Perhaps it seeks out body heat?_ Link thought, but then shook his head. That couldn't be it; there had to be many more of the little forest creatures running about the forest. It would be chasing _them_, not him. But just to make sure…

He looked back to where the rabbit had scared him before and quickly ran in its direction. The encounter hadn't even been five minutes earlier; it couldn't be far. And sure enough, the blond found the rabbit resting underneath a nearby tree and grabbed it before it could notice him and hop away. _Lucky!_ He thought with a grin and turned to face the water creature once more.

It didn't take very long for it to catch up with him. Now that it seemed to have its target locked on course, it seemed to move faster than it had been earlier. Link readied himself and muttered a quick apology to the rabbit before flinging it as far as he could past the water creature. He heard it land with a _thud_ on top of some leaves, and the being chasing him stopped for a moment. The blond smiled; so maybe it relied on _sound_?

His thoughts didn't last very long, however, as the beast seemed to forget about the temporary distraction and continued to make its way toward him. _What the hell?! _He groaned and readied his swords. If he couldn't get it to go away and leave him alone, then he would just have to stand up for himself and fight. It didn't seem _too _bad; all he had to do was be careful of the steam rollers and he'd be alright.

He moved to the side and took a jab at the creature. The liquid parted at the foreign intrusion in its body, then quickly acted like a vacuum and sucked the entire blade in whole. Link's hand almost went in with it, but he let go at the last possible second just to watch the sword disintegrate inside of the water. His eyes widened, and he jumped back before the beast could turn and steam roll him.

Now armed with one half of his dual sword, he decided that perhaps attacking it straight on was not a good idea. With only one thing left to do, he started to run. As much as he hated running away from creatures, he knew it was the only thing he could do for now. The thing practically ate his sword! There was no way he was going to try that again; he wasn't an idiot. And he would never willingly stick his _hand_ inside of it, not after seeing what it could do. Thus he was only left with just one option.

_I hope the others are having better luck than I am_, he thought disdainfully to himself as he swerved past some trees to avoid his stalker. Even with its newfound speed as it had something to target and follow, it was still dreadfully slow, and for that Link was grateful. Perhaps he could outrun it? There was no way it'd be able to keep up with him for so long.

Just as he was thinking that, the ground beneath his feet gave way and the blond swordsman fell through. He bit his lip to keep himself from screaming, drawing blood at the intensity of the bite, and shut his eyes. What the hell was happening _now?!_ He looked up to see if the creature was following him down into whatever hole he fell through, but the moment he opened his eyes the only thing he could see was white.

He fell for what was probably just a minute but to him felt much longer, and suddenly his feet landed lightly on ground. At least, what he assumed was ground, as everything was still completely white. "Hello?" He called out. "What's going on? What's happening?"

"_So it was you… you're the one who killed Pit._"

The voice came from behind him, and Link spun around to see a tall and majestic woman with beautiful long green hair. She looked very pretty… and yet, she glared at him with hate in her eyes. Link blinked; what had he done to warrant such a scornful look?

"Who are you?"

"_My name is Palutena. Pit was… is… a very important person to me. And you took him away._"

Her glare was beginning to unnerve him; it didn't seem fitting for such a beautiful woman. In a way, she reminded him of Zelda. Something stirred inside of him, but he didn't know what. He did his best to reason with the woman.

"I had to. It was part of the game."

"_You didn't have to do anything. There's an alternate solution to everything_."

"Yeah, wait out the time limit Cirvex gave us and get everyone killed."

He was not about to let her get the best of him. He had already fought and killed a clone of his love; he could talk to this woman. Nothing she could say would get to him, and he would make sure of that.

"_He had friends. People who cared for him. And you… you ripped him away from us. From me._"

"I have friends, too. People care about me. Would you be here if Pit was still alive? You wouldn't, right? You wouldn't talk like this to the one you apparently care about so much. I'm sorry that I had to kill him, but I won't apologize for being alive. He lost that battle, and I stand here right now because I was the one who won that round. And I intend to keep winning these rounds and make it back out alive."

Palutena didn't answer right away. Instead, she continued to stare unblinkingly in Link's eyes, and the blond felt a wave of unease pool in his stomach. Something about her seemed… off, he knew, even if he didn't know the real woman herself. This didn't seem right.

"… You're a hallucination, aren't you?"

"_Roy said almost the exact same thing_," Palutena answered in Cirvex's voice. Link almost took a step back out of surprise. "_Despite the arguments you two had over the course of this game… you two really aren't all that different. You're more alike than you think you are_."

"Thanks," the blond responded, though he wasn't sure what for. "How long are you going to keep me here, Cirvex? I have a round to play, and a game to finish."

The woman in front of him smiled. It wasn't a kind smile, nor was it an evil one. It seemed… empty. "_If you say so. But Link, I didn't think you were one to so quickly jump in front of the face of death._"

Link smirked. "I intend to make it out of this game alive, and bring as many people as I can with me. And we're going to shut you down for good." He jabbed his thumb in the woman's face. It wasn't actually Cirvex, but it would do for now.

"_I invite you to try._"

His vision flashed white once more and he was back in the forest. As if time had stood still throughout his little interruption, the water creature was still right behind him, steam roller raised up high and ready to flatten him into the ground. Link swore and quickly jumped out of the way, just narrowly avoiding becoming a pancake. He stumbled back to his feet and continued what he was doing before the interruption; running for his life.

"If I can't beat this thing with my bare hands or weapons, I'll have to find a way around it," he mumbled to himself as he wove past the trees and darted over bushes and small animals. "Cirvex said we have to kill two of these things to make it out of this round alive, which means they can all be killed somehow. I just have to find this one's weakness…"

**OoO**

"_Well, that was a failure._"

Peach jumped at the sound of the familiar voice, and in her peripheral vision she saw Silver do the same. The black one that had accompanied the white hedgehog remained unfazed, however. The blonde turned to see her new friend open his mouth to ask her a question, but she cut him off with a quick, "That's Cirvex," and he quickly closed it, nodding in understanding.

"_I was hoping to guilt them into doing… something, I'm not quite sure what. I thought it was a good idea at the time. Then again, everything I think starts off as a fine idea ends up being a horrible one in the end, doesn't it?_"

Peach felt a new presence next to her and she turned to see Zelda staring down at the floor. The blonde princess wisely decided not to speak up at that moment; she'd give the brunette a few more minutes to clear her mind of things before she decided to make conversation. Whenever Zelda was ready, Peach would talk.

Silver seemed to notice the new arrival, but he didn't make any motion to talk to her either. Peach assumed he noticed the fallen look on Zelda's face and wisely chose not to introduce himself at that moment. Optimist and conversationalist though the white hedgehog may be, he at least knew when to keep quiet. For that, Peach was grateful.

"_Time remaining in the game is thirty five minutes. It's almost eight in the morning. We're almost done here._"

Peach couldn't quite believe it; had they really stayed up the entire night? The poor survivors must be completely exhausted… she couldn't imagine what they were going through. She didn't even feel a bit tired. Looking around, however, she noticed many of the other audience members fast asleep in their chairs, including the puffballs from earlier and a green dinosaur she may or may not have known.

"Almost done," she whispered to herself. It seemed like the game had gone on forever. It was hard to imagine it was only just a few hours. They were almost done; Zelda would be able to see her beloved Link again…

"_If anyone wants, I'll relinquish the bodies of those who have fallen if you want to give them a proper burial or something. Nothing happened to them. The only pain they went through is what they felt in the virtual reality. I already promised Palutena this, but my offer extends to everyone else in the audience as well. I suggest you tell me if you want them soon, though. I have a feeling you may not get the chance to voice your request later…_"

A sense of foreboding welled up inside the princess. Something was going to happen later. Cirvex had all but confirmed it. Did she want to keep Luigi's body? She had no idea how Mario would react… she felt scared.

Silver's hand reached out to rest upon hers, and she turned to see him smiling softly at her in what was supposed to be a reassuring gesture. But… she didn't feel reassured. She didn't know if Mario was going to yell at her, uncharacteristic as it may be, or just mope around. What she did know was that he wasn't going to take it lightly. She pursed her lips. What to do…?

"Go for it," Silver told her. "I'll go with you to reclaim Sonic. I think my friends would want that."

She stared at him for a moment before nodding, her decision made. Together, the two rose from their seats and made it down the aisles to the stage the final five remaining pods and the sentient machine lay upon. They walked past the pods, and despite herself, Peach couldn't help but look inside of one as they passed by. Lucas' sleeping form met her, and he looked so innocent. She didn't know if he was undergoing grievous pain and torture in the virtual world at the moment. She desperately hoped not.

"_Hello_," Cirvex's voice, now much softer to just the both of them, emitted from a speaker on the machine. Peach almost jumped, but Silver kept a firm grip on her hand. "_Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom and Silver the Hedgehog. I take it you're here to reclaim the bodies of Luigi and Sonic?_"

Peach nodded, not asking how he had known their names. She wouldn't have put it past him; the being could know every person that had ever walked in and out of the building. Silver, on the other hand, voiced his thoughts.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "Is it to get back at those who wronged you when you were still alive? There is such a thing as forgiveness."

Cirvex didn't answer straight away, but surprised both of them when he did so civilly. "_I suppose you could say that. But I am a machine. I am not meant to forgive. That being said, when the police make their way inside, you may want to tell them to check the control room. You'll find my father's body in there._"

Silver didn't address the comment about his father's body, but he did ask, "Police?"

"_You didn't think I would be able to do something like this without outsiders noticing, would you? The world knows. My message was broadcast. But everyone who is in this building here can't get out… and no one who is outside can get in. Not until I let them. And I won't open the doors until my grand finale._"

"Finale," Peach finally managed to breathe. "This isn't the last round?"

"_It is._" He didn't seem like he was going to say more on the subject, and Peach dropped it. She wanted to do something, to save the five still in there, but… she would just have to watch and see how it played out. She didn't dare reach out and touch one of the many complicated buttons on Cirvex despite every one of them being in reach; she didn't want to mess anything up and get them killed faster than they already would have.

The blonde princess looked down at the floor before suddenly perking up. "Wait, if you said no one could get inside, then Silver, how did you -"

"Yes," Silver spoke up suddenly. "I would like to reclaim Sonic's body, by the way."

"_Very well,_" Cirvex hummed. "_It has been noted. You may go back to your seats now. When the game is over, I promise you'll get them._"

He nodded and moved to make his way back to his seat, mindful of the slumbering audience members he passed along the way. Peach stared after him in disbelief before slowly following behind him. Silver's arrival didn't make sense anymore but he didn't seem to be in the mood to talk about it, so for the moment she decided the drop the subject. She'd get the answers out of him later. Zelda hadn't moved a bit from the position they had left her in, presumably because Link was still alive. She wouldn't move to claim a body that wasn't and wouldn't be there.

**OoO**

Samus groaned as the lizard monster roared and shoved her back a few yards. Her back collided with a tree and she painfully slid down. But she quickly renewed her energy and stood back up on her own two feet and lashed out once more, eager to end the battle quickly without suffering any major casualties.

Lucas and Olimar seemed to be handling the battle just fine on their own; both of them were small and agile enough to duck and doge the beast's wide swings of its arms and chain. Olimar called out an order to the younger boy and together the two worked like a perfect team, helping each other and getting one another around to the back, where the unprotected tail lie.

As soon as the blonde boy was close enough, he raised his sword as high as he could before bringing it down with all his might. The lizard creature screeched and shook both small males off its body, but the blade remained lodged deeply in its appendage. It thrashed its tail around wildly, but the sword refused to budge. Off in the bushes, Lucas and Olimar gave each other high-fives.

Taking the creature's moment of pained distraction, Samus leaped forward, propelled herself in front of the monster, and kicked herself high into the air, flipping behind it in a graceful move her two teammates gasped just watching. She landed gracefully and perfectly on its tail, just above the blade of Lucas' sword, resulting in the monster letting out yet another pained roar. It shook and thrashed about as hard as it could, but the blonde bounty hunter refused to be thrown off.

She readied her dagger and quickly made work of slicing into the revealed part of the creature. Samus didn't quite understand why enemies would just leave their weak points so undefended like this, but she wasn't complaining. She was making quick work of the beast, and so held up a hand to stop Lucas and Olimar from helping when they moved to join. They weren't needed now.

The beast let out a final roar and slumped to the ground. Oddly enough, it disintegrated into black particles that floated up into the air before disappearing. Neither of the three could quite understand how or why it happened, but took it as proof that they had slain the beast.

"That was great, Samus!" Lucas gushed, smiling happily. "You took it down by yourself!"

"Not really," she muttered off handedly, picking up the fallen sword and dagger and handing the former back to the younger blond. "If you and Olimar hadn't stunned it with your combined effort, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to even get close."

"You still did most of the work," Olimar smiled. "The credit really should go to you."

"If the others are this easy, we should be out of this round in an instant," Samus murmured, her eyes shifting around cautiously, looking for more enemies.

"_Congratulations. That's one monster defeated. There are still two more on the loose, but you only have to kill one of them. Which one should you go for? Your other two friends already found them._"

The trio blinked. Roy and Link already found them? "We have to find them," Lucas said immediately. "They won't last long, even if the others are this easy. Come on," suddenly taking charge of the group, he grabbed Olimar's wrist and took off into the forest. Samus shook her head but ran quickly behind them, able to catch up and keep with them easily due to her much taller height.

They nearly tripped over a couple of bushes and innocent forest animals at the speed they were going, but they pressed on. They had to find the other two before it was too late! "Please be okay," Lucas muttered under his breath as he continued to lead his teammates. He didn't know where he was going, but as long as he found one of them, it would be okay. He'd find one and bring him along to find the other! Then they can see how stupid they were and hopefully work together to bring everyone out of the round safely.

They stopped when they heard ragged breathing come from their collected left. They turned and were able to catch a glimpse of red hair before Roy barreled into all three of them, and all four tumbled down to the ground. "Ow, ow!" Roy groaned and rubbed his head, looking at who he had run into. "Hey, it's you guys! I'm so glad. I'm sorry for leaving, I was an idiot, now please tell me which one of you knows what the hell this is so we can kill it!"

The three were just barely able to register his woods when the monster that had been chasing the redhead made itself known. It stopped at the sight of more prey, but quickly became more agitated. Samus hissed. "It's the thing that stole my boost ball. I had to kill it to get it back, and it was a pain just doing that."

"How do you hurt it?"

Samus shook her head. "I don't think we can without my power suit. We're going to have to see what the other creature is. For now, run!" She grabbed the two small males closest to her and kicked Roy incessantly until he rose on his own. The four were just barely able to doge a swipe from the creature's sharp legs before they disappeared once more into the forest growth. Clicking in agitation, the Boost Guardian swiftly followed them.

"I thought you said you'd be able to handle these things on your own!" Roy shouted to Samus, moving to the side just before smacking face first into a tree.

"That was before I saw that thing again!" Samus shouted back, brows furrowed in frustration. "You two!" Lucas and Olimar jumped at the sudden commanding tone she used with them. "Do you two have any enemies you needed an outside source to defeat?"

"My PSI powers," Lucas admitted. "I can't use them, but I don't think we'll need them to beat the other monster, if it's something I know."

"My Pikmin," Olimar responded.

"Those flowery things of death?" Roy shouted. "I never thought I would hate flowers so much!"

"What?"

"Never mind him," Samus shook her head. "Do you need the Pikmin to defeat your enemies, or will we be fine without them?"

"It will be difficult, but I'm sure we will be able to pull through," Olimar nodded.

"Good," Samus sighed. "And you said your enemies were all human, right?" She called out to Roy, who nodded. "I don't think we'll be fighting any of them, if what we're up against now is anything to go by."

"You've seen one of the other creatures?"

"Killed it. Wasn't too bad. I can only hope the last one won't be, either…"

Roy opened his mouth in preparation to respond, but quickly closed it and came to a halt. Samus didn't notice his sudden stop and thus was unprepared when she smacked face first into the last member of their survival party. "Link!" Roy shouted happily. "I never thought I'd be glad to see you."

"Thank you," Link groaned, rubbing his aching head. "Now you might want to get the hell out of the way, or you're going to be crushed!" Right after he said those words, the water creature that had been chasing him emerged from its side of the forest. The five survivors quickly jumped and rolled out of the way.

"What the hell is _that_?!" Roy shouted.

"I was hoping one of you would know," Link muttered.

"The Waterwraith," Olimar gasped. "We cannot kill it in this form."

"What? Then how?" Lucas asked frantically, rising to his feet just to jump out of the way of the incoming creature.

"It is deathly afraid of loud noises," the Hocotatian called out from his side of the area. "A loud and threatening boom will frighten it into taking on a more solid form, where we can attack it!"

"Too bad we already killed the loudest thing in this forest," Samus muttered under her breath, rising to stand once more. "So what do we do now?"

"Yell as loud as we can? Stomp with our feet?" Roy suggested.

Before Olimar could answer, their other guest had caught up with them. Trapped by the two creatures that had stalked them thus far, the five survivors grouped together, their backs to a tree. "Well, this most certainly sucks," Link muttered. "We aren't going to just let them kill us, are we?"

"Hell no," the redhead of the group shook his head. "We're going down fighting."

"So… stomp our feet?" Lucas suggested weakly, turning paler by the moment.

Olimar shrugged. "I guess, if we can't produce anything louder."

The five then proceeded to stomp their feet as loudly as they could, and Samus dully noted that it was the weirdest thing she had ever done for survival. It seemed to be working, however, as the Waterwraith tensed and backed up, moving away from the group. They all smirked at each other and stomped closer, driving the water creature to push itself even further back.

The Boost Guardian meanwhile stopped its slow approach and turned its neck, as if wondering what the hell its victims were doing. After another moment of this foolishness, it lashed out at the nearest body to it, sharp claw ready to impale. Lucas screeched and quickly jumped out of the way, and the blunt part of the leg smashed into Link instead, sending the blond swordsman careening into a tree headfirst, knocking him out cold.

"Oh, no! Link! I'm sorry!" Lucas called worriedly, knowing the other couldn't hear him. The group stopped their temporary stomping to see the damage that had been done to their fallen teammate, and that was more than enough time for the Waterwraith to regain its ground and speed towards them faster than it had been moving before.

Samus pushed the three males out of the way and moved to jump herself, but underestimated the creatures speed as it raised its steam roller high up in the air before smashing it down on the woman below. She had almost made it, but the blunt object hit her legs directly, breaking both on impact. Samus let out a strangled yelp as she collapsed on the floor and passed out instantly from the pain.

Roy jumped to aid his comrades when suddenly he found himself beneath the Boost Guardian. He laughed awkwardly and waved a bit at his old stalker before quickly jumping out of the way of its leg. Apparently the creature decided it had enough of its hit-and-miss strategy and quickly curled up into a ball.

"It can do that?!" Roy shouted in disbelief before just managing to jump over the sphere that had launched itself at him at a ridiculously high speed. He gasped, barely able to believe he had actually dodged it, and noticed with dismay that his other two conscious teammates weren't so lucky, both having let out gasps of pain after being hit full-on with the new shape of the Guardian. They slammed into a tree near Link and fell to the ground, limp and unmoving.

With no time to check if any of them were still alive, Roy jumped over the speeding ball yet again and let out a cry of triumph before realizing that the Waterwraith was right behind him. "Oh, shit," he swore, rolling out of the way just before being steamrolled. The Boost Guardian took its chance while he was down on the ground, and rammed into him full force in its ball form, sending him flying into the air.

Roy lost consciousness as soon as he hit the ground, landing next to his other four fallen comrades.


	14. One Last Dance

**A/N: Chapter Fourteen – English – One Last Dance**

**Just two more chapters… then an epilogue. We're so close.**

**This is probably the only chapter I had in mind from the beginning of the story, back when I posted the first chapter over a year ago. This was the only chapter I had actually planned back then; everything in between kind of fell into place, haha. There are some things I would love to go back and change; maybe I'll do that once this story is finished.**

**Thanks for sticking through this with me, everyone, if you've been reading this story from when I first posted it a little over a year ago. And for all the new readers, I'm glad you're all reading this. Thank you.**

**Our survivor count goes down in this chapter.**

**OoO**

The lights in the auditorium went out, enveloping the entire audience in a sudden darkness. Those who were already awake looked around frantically, wondering what was happening; those who had been sleeping were shaken awake by the quickly panicking people next to them. Just beyond the doors of the auditorium, seen by the cracks below the automatic exits, the lights were also extinguished.

"Zelda!" Peach gasped, and the brunette next to her started instantly.

"What's going on?" She asked, standing up from her seat and trying to look down at the stage. The lights on the mechanical body of Cirvex were still blinking and whirling, but she couldn't understand why _he_ of all things was still running efficiently when the entire building seemed to encounter a sudden blackout. "Wait a minute—"

"Something big is happening," the black hedgehog that had entered the auditorium with Silver spoke up for the first time since he had arrived, his arms and legs crossed and leaning back on the seat he occupied. He didn't look at the three who stared at him with wide eyes as he explained, "Think about it. We lost power, but Cirvex is still functioning. Either he has an external power source not at all connected with this building, or he's using up so much electricity right now that not enough is being distributed throughout."

"So something happened in the virtual world?" Silver asked for clarification, his hand up to his chin in a contemplating pose. Peach eyed him suspiciously. "Shadow, what do you think is happening to the contestants?"

Shadow closed his eyes. "I can't say for certain, but as long as Cirvex is functioning, they should be safe. As safe as they can get in that game, anyway. I don't know what would happen if Cirvex were to suddenly shut down while they're still inside, so you should be glad we aren't dealing with that right now."

Zelda bit her lip. Then, an idea crossed her mind. "Master Hand," she snapped her fingers and turned to face the other three. "If anyone can shut Cirvex down and get the players out of there, it would be him, right?"

"Do you honestly think he has just been sitting back and watching the show this entire time?" Shadow narrowed his eyes at here. "If anything, he's done more than you two have combined." Peach stepped back at suddenly being roped into the conversation. "What have you done besides sit here and complain about your predicament? If you really loved him, you would have moved from the start. You were just waiting for something to happen."

"I couldn't do anything before!" Zelda defended, pushing Peach out of her way to snap at the black hedgehog. Silver looked as if he wanted to intervene, but stopped himself at the last minute. "Tell me what I could have done!"

"You didn't try," Shadow finally opened his eyes to gaze upon the shocked brunette with crimson pupils, "You couldn't do anything then, and you can't do anything now. Let the game play out."

Zelda's eye twitched, and she clenched her hands into fists. Peach moved to grab her before she could resort to physical violence, but suddenly found herself unable to move. Surprised, she looked down upon herself and noticed her own body glowing with a light blue aura. Just a few feet away, Silver, his own hand enveloped in the same light, shook his head. _Don't do anything_.

"First you chastise me for not doing anything, and now you're telling me to do just that? What the hell?" The brunette shook, but she didn't reach out to attack. Yet.

Shadow didn't seem intimidated by her unspoken threat, and continued to speak in the same all-knowing tone Zelda was beginning to despise. "Master Hand is probably doing the best he can to stop this. If he hasn't been able to come up with a solution yet, what makes you think you will? Sit down and leave everything to fate."

"Shadow, that's enough," Silver finally spoke up, a frown firmly set in place. He relinquished his powers and Peach was suddenly able to move of her own free will again. The white hedgehog shook his head before turning to Zelda. "I'm sorry. That's Shadow. He… he is a bit difficult to get used to."

Zelda ignored him, and glared down the black hedgehog. He stared back, his face completely blank. Finally, the princess turned away and she looked down at the ground, her mind made up. "I'm going to find Master Hand. I'm going to find out what he's doing for myself, and maybe I'll actually be able to do something. You never know. Don't follow me. I'll come back soon."

"Zelda!" Peach reached out to grab the dress of her friend as she passed by, but stopped herself. "How will you even know where you're going? It's so dark…"

"I guess we all have stubborn friends, huh?" Silver tried to lighten the situation, shrugging his shoulders. "Shadow has his annoying habits, too." The hedgehog in question _hmph_-ed and turned his head to look the other way. "I'm sure Zelda will be okay. If you're worried, though, we could probably trail behind her…"

"No," Peach held up a hand. "That's alright. She's strong. She'll find Master Hand eventually." It took her a bit, but she slowly sat back down in her seat, staring down at the lights flashing across Cirvex's body on the stage. She pushed herself back as far as she could, allowing the other panicking people to pass her by.

"Are you okay?" Silver asked, sitting next to her. Then he shook his head, "Wait, no, that was a stupid question; of course you aren't…"

"Silver?"

"… Huh, yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Wide golden eyes blinked at the pink blonde, confused. Silver lightly and quickly ran a hand through his quills, shifting nervously. "Uh, sure? I guess you can…"

"How did you get inside?" Peach picked up her legs and hugged them close to her body. It was an odd position to take on the theatrical chair, but she had no intention of moving. "Cirvex said he sealed the exits so no one can get in or out. I'm going to assume he did that in the beginning, so… if you were late, how did you get inside? What was so important that you had to force your way in? I know you said you had your friends to meet up with, but… something tells me that isn't it. You stayed with me and didn't even go searching for them. Why? Or were you in here from the very beginning?"

Silver sighed at the plentiful of questions the princess asked, and turned to Shadow for guidance. The black hedgehog merely shrugged and silently told him to do whatever he pleased, and Silver frowned in annoyance at being left alone. "Well… I don't know if you'll believe the truth."

"We have all the time in the world. You can spend that time convincing me."

Seeing the stern expression on Peach's face, the male sighed. "Alright, if you say so. But don't complain if it's not what you expected, okay?"

**OoO**

Zelda, determination filling every inch of her body, made her way slowly down the darkened halls of the building. A soft orange glow emanated from the little flame in the palm of her hand; it took almost all of her concentration and energy not to let it go out of control and burn the whole place down. She had a mission, and she was set on accomplishing it.

"The control room would be somewhere not everyone can easily access," she muttered to herself as she passed a locked door. "Even if it's heavily guarded, I'll make my presence known. He'll have to hear and come out and see what the commotion is."

_Though he won't be able to do anything if he doesn't have power_, a voice of reasoning rang through her head, but she dismissed it. Then they could simply discuss what to do while waiting for it to come back, or perhaps activate a backup or spare generator. Surely there was one, right? There had to be; they wouldn't just leave the entire building running on one power source…

Her eyes widened and she flailed, almost tripping over a body lying out in front of a new hall. She frowned and moved to kick the person to wake them up, but upon bringing the light closer to their face she noticed their eyes were wide open, as if in a state of shock. Unease filled her heart and she took a step back. _But I must keep going…_

What Shadow said got to her, but she would never admit it aloud. She wouldn't give that smug hedgehog the satisfaction. She wasn't going to be a limp bystander anymore; she was going to do something! And with only an hour left on the clock, she wondered why her body was suddenly taking action now. _Better late than never_, she assured herself, but the sense of having done nothing earlier was still nearly overwhelming.

She entered the hallway the body was laying in front of. The fire that served as her light source revealed more bodies strewn about, but the brunette forced herself not to focus on them. All she had to do was find Master Hand, and maybe they could do something together…

_What's the point?_ That persistent voice came back. _Even if you do find him, what are you two going to do? He knows everything about the Cirvex 5.0, and if he hasn't found a way to shut him down by now, what will your presence change? Absolutely nothing. Shadow was right. Turn around, Zelda._

"No," she whispered aloud, her own voice sounding foreign to her ears. "I won't give up. If there's any way I can get my Link out of there, I'll take it."

_And what about the others? There are four more with your boyfriend, you know. Are you just going to leave them? Link is all you've been worried about this entire night, straight from the beginning. If you could only save one person, it'd be Link in a heartbeat. But do you really think you can just leave those other four to die? That isn't like you, Zelda… how selfish you've become._

She let out a strained breath, trying to force the voice out of her head. It was her own mind playing tricks on her; her own self-doubts. She would not succumb to it; she didn't have to listen. Just keep going straight ahead, be careful around these workers, don't ask what happened; you'll get your answers soon.

_You can't just ignore me. I am you. I wonder how Peach has been able to stand you all these years. You could argue that you two are best friends, but you just left her alone with Shadow back there to save someone who doesn't have a very good chance of surviving this night anyway._

"She isn't alone. She has Silver…"

_I'm sorry. You left your best friend alone with Shadow and a stranger you don't even know._

"Shut up," Zelda growled. The flame in her hand flickered, but stood still once she forced more energy into it. It grew bigger, lighting more of the hallway, but the princess was careful not to let it go out of control. "I'm close to the control room, I know it. Don't say anything while we're in there."

_Who says Master Hand is even in the control room? Maybe this whole Cirvex thing is a lie – it was his plan from the beginning._

_Won't that be an ironic twist?_

"He wouldn't do that; he was so kind when I saw him earlier…"

_Looks can be deceiving, Zelda. You of all people should know that. You know nothing about Master Hand. No one knew he even had a son before this night; there would be some records of him when he was still alive, but not a single word has slipped out. No one knew anything, and suddenly 'Cirvex' appears out of nowhere. How do you know he really existed? This could have been Master Hand's plan all along, and he's just pinning it on a son that he didn't have._

Zelda didn't know how to answer. She kept walking. The flame died down a little, but still emitted just enough light so she knew she wasn't about to walk into a wall. The princess decided to hear her voice out, just to listen to the crazy theories it could come up with. They couldn't be true, though… could they?

_He may not even be in the building anymore. Have you even seen him since this whole thing started? Cirvex said he sealed off the entrances and exits, yes, but going along with the theory of this being Master Hand's plan from the beginning… who's to say he hasn't already made his escape?_

This made Zelda stop her advances towards the control room and think it over. Could Master Hand really…? No, she wouldn't pass on judgment before she knew anything about it. She would find him and figure it out for herself exactly what his role in everything was.

_It's going to be hard to figure it out when you find him considering that he isn't even here._

"You have no proof of that." Zelda was very much aware she was talking to herself, but as there was no one around she could not care less. She wasn't going crazy over all of this; she was still perfectly sane in mind… now she was doing something.

Just ahead, she could see a white light trail out underneath a door. "That must be the control room," she deduced; if any room would still have power, it'd be that one! Just as the thought crossed her mind, the light suddenly went out. "Of course," she muttered and stepped closer.

Holding the flame back, she used her free hand to push open the door. It made a clicking noise and it slid from the bottom up, surprising the brunette. She overcame the initial shock quickly, however, and made her way inside.

The first thing she noticed was the horrible smell that overpowered her senses upon her first step in. It took all her willpower not to double over and hold her nose. The scent was so powerful she couldn't even place it even though she knew she could easily tell what it was… where was it coming from?

Her eyes scanned over wires messily strewn about the floor, thick black coils disconnected and ripped apart. _What happened here? _On her left was a large monitor screen, probably showing what was happening in the virtual world before Cirvex shut that feature off. The glass had been shattered, leaving a giant and ominous black hole directly in the middle. Zelda could make out the many complicated machinery inside and resolved to not step too close

"Master Hand?" She called out, not wanting to breathe in with her nose but not wanting to do the same with her mouth either. She didn't want to potentially taste what was in the air. "Are you in here?"

_Look at you, calling out his name like an idiot. This is the setting of a horror movie. Dead bodies everywhere, a destroyed room? You better get out of here before you get yourself killed, and in effect, me too._

"At least then I wouldn't have to suffer through your comments anymore," Zelda muttered disdainfully and let her eyes wander the room once more. Suddenly they rested upon a figure she somehow had not yet seen, off in the corner of the room.

Black wires, thin and thick, ensnared the being and restricted its movements. Off just a few feet in front of it, disconnected black wires that had been twisted and sharpened into a spear-like weapon lay covered in crimson blood. Zelda took a step back at the sight before her eyes trailed back up to the actual creature. A once purely white gloved hand, now stained with blotches of blood and a gaping hole in the center of its palm…

Master Hand.

The brunette took a step back, and the fire went out, enveloping her, the dead bodies surrounding her, and the room in complete darkness. She couldn't even find it in herself to scream.

**OoO**

"What the hell?!"

Roy sat up in alarm, eyes widened in shock as he stared at the scene in front of him. The two beasts that had been chasing them, the Boost Guardian and the Waterwraith, stood still in front of him, unmoving. Behind him, he could hear his fellow survivors coming to their senses and reconnecting with the virtual world.

"What happened?" Link asked, turning to the redhead. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Roy gestured at himself in alarm. "I didn't do anything! That stupid thing knocked me out and I'm surprised we aren't all dead!"

"Is the game glitching?" Lucas asked after rubbing his head to get himself back to his senses. A quick glance around proved to him that all of his teammates were still alive and alright… but Samus looked the worse of them, so he quickly ran to her side.

"I'm alright," the blonde woman tried to tell him and shoo him off, but Lucas would have none of that. He stubbornly remained next to her and gave her a knowing look when she hissed upon disturbing her legs. Blood splattered on the ground beneath them, and they both knew she wouldn't be able to use them anytime soon. "Damn."

"How peculiar," Olimar spoke up after inspecting his suit for damage. "If the game and monsters are glitching, then why aren't we? We're part of the game now, after all…"

"Who cares?" Roy stood up and shook his head. "At least now we actually stand a chance against these things." He reached a hand out and quickly took it back when his arm phased through the monsters as if they were holograms. "Whoa!"

Link groaned. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy."

All five survivors jumped at the sound of static suddenly erupting around them, but nothing visible happened. Eventually, a voice cracked through, trying to relay a message.

"_Wasn't—" _ccckkkk "_… supposed… happening… You five have to – away - … coming to get… wall of energy… run – won't survive! You won't survive! Run a—from the—" _Cirvex's voice cut off, leaving the five survivors more confused than ever.

Roy was the first to comment. "That was… a bit strange. Did anyone understand what he was trying to tell us?"

"From the words I could make out," Olimar pondered, "It sounded like he was warning us of something that was coming. We won't survive whatever it is, so we have to run…"

"So it is a glitch?" Lucas frowned. "I can't think of any other reason why his voice would be so distorted like that…"

"Probably," Samus groaned. "If we do have to move, I guess I'm a goner then." She gestured to her useless legs. "Damn thing disabled me. I'm a cripple… there's no way I can get past this."

"Don't worry," Roy assured before making his way over to the two blondes. "I can carry you! … If you're alright with that, of course."

Samus seemed as if she were about to make a retort, but a gentle nudge and a stern look from Lucas convinced her otherwise. _Accept his offer_, he told her. Reluctantly, she groaned. "Fine."

The redhead smiled. "Great! I'll be careful picking you up. Link, mind helping me?"

"Eh, sure." The male blond followed the other to their fallen comrade and gently lifted her off the forest floor. Samus made a hissing noise as her leg brushed against the ground, but soon she was safely secured on Roy's back, his hands on her thighs so as to not aggravate the broken parts below. Link made sure they were alright, and turned to Olimar.

"Any ideas as to when exactly we should start running?"

The small Hocotatian shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not a—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the ground started to rumble. Roy nearly fell, but used all his strength to remain standing and support Samus. Link and Olimar held onto the trees they were next to for support, while Lucas did fall. The boy groaned, rubbed his aching face, and sat up before his eyes widened in fear.

"G-guys…" he stammered. "I think we should start running now…"

He pointed at something behind them, and they turned to see a giant wall of… what was virtually _nothing_ rushing at them. Lines of data became corrupted and dissipated into nothing as the invisible line passed them; the only way they could tell where it was, was by how far away their surroundings were vanishing before their very eyes. It made a loud screeching sound as it moved, hurting all of their ears.

"Shit, we're gonna get deleted if we run into that," Roy muttered. "Run!" The other three who could still run did not wait for a second command; they sped away immediately as fast as they could. The redhead had a bit of a slow start due to the extra weight he now had to support, but eventually he was able to keep up a steady pace behind them.

"Be careful not to trip over anything!" Link shouted at them. "If you do, you're as good as dead!" Right as he finished saying that, Lucas just had to trip over an exposed root. He let out a yelp as suddenly his feet were over his head, and he could see the ground rushing at him –

Just to be caught by Link directly behind him. The older male shot the younger one a 'what did I just tell you?' look and continued to carry him through his sprint. "Olimar, are you okay up there?"

"I am fine!" The Hocotatian called back, jumping over a bush that would have otherwise impeded his way. Being the only person not carrying another, he had the lightest load and thus was able to stay ahead of everyone. "I would be more worried about Lucas and Samus!"

"Don't worry about me," Samus groaned. "I wouldn't need your help if it weren't for that damn water creature."

"Hey, on the bright side, at least that data erasing thing got rid of them for us!" Roy smiled. "If we make it to the end of the forest, we can all get out of here! We just have to keep running straight and we'll be alright!"

"Lucas, can you run on your own again?" Link asked the younger boy he carried. "You aren't heavy or anything, but I'd like to conserve as much of my strength as I can. You understand, right?"

"O-of course!" The small blonde squirmed out of the older male's grasp and hit the ground running. He stumbled a little at first, but was able to keep up an easy constant speed. Lucas and Link quickly caught up to Olimar ahead, and Roy was falling further behind with each passing second.

Samus noticed, and tapped the redhead's shoulder in alarm. "Hey, any reason why you're slowing down?" She turned her head, and nearly regretted it as the data erasing line was nearly upon them. "We're kind of going to die if you don't hurry up… no pressure, or anything."

"I'm trying!" Roy gasped. "I don't want to drop you, but I can't run as fast as I usually can while carrying you! I promised I'd protect you, so what kind of hero would I be if I can't even keep a simple promise? I know I'm slowing down, but I'm getting tired; I'm just a human!"

"You're going to have to be superhuman for a bit if you want to get us out of here alive," Samus muttered. She could feel a few stray hairs on the back of her head get pulled back, and suddenly felt lighter. If anything, she would be getting a free haircut out of the thing… not that she particularly wanted it, as it'd probably look hideous and choppy, but she'd gladly sacrifice her hair over her life.

Roy seemed to be able to feel the data eraser as well, and had to make a choice. It was a tough decision to make, but… what other options did he have? A wry smile crossed his face. He had to act now or both of them would be lost to the monster deletor behind them…

"Link!" He called out, and the blonde turned his head. "Catch!"

Samus' eyes widened and she let out a surprised noise as suddenly she found herself being tossed through the air like a ball. _What the hell, Roy?!_ She thought furiously, already thinking of the ways she was going to torture him in the afterlife. Link shouted something similar to what she was thinking, but managed to catch her anyway. His legs buckled under the sudden weight, but he managed to keep himself upright and running. Samus was slightly impressed, even if she did hiss in pain at her legs being bumped in the process.

She turned back to ask Roy just what the hell he was thinking when she found him waving at the group with a smile on his face. "Roy!" she screamed, attracting the attention of the other three males. They turned around.

"Sorry, Samus," the redhead apologized. "I didn't want to get you killed because I was too weak to uphold my own promise. But Link, you'll keep her safe for me, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Link asked, flabbergasted. Roy wasn't thinking of what he thought he was thinking of… was he?

Olimar seemed to think otherwise as he suddenly stopped running and jumped the other way, towards Roy. Roy blinked in surprise before he found himself being pulled by the little Hocotatian's entire strength away from the data eraser. It wasn't much, but the redhead did start running again to help Olimar regain distance from the insta-death behind them.

"Don't be an idiot," Olimar muttered just so Roy could hear him. "Don't be a hero. It's well and good that you tried to save Samus, but you don't have to sacrifice yourself in the process. Give her to Link and keep running. You still have a chance."

"But I'm tired," Roy smiled, despite the weary tone in his voice. He almost couldn't believe he was being lectured by a midget.

"We're all tired," Olimar responded, either not noticing his obvious disbelief or choosing not to comment on it. "But you don't see us hurling ourselves at death to get out of this, do you? Maybe some others have sacrificed themselves to keep you all alive, but you don't have to do the same. Saving others is well and good, but what's the point if you aren't even going to save yourself? It's pointless, everything you've done up to this point… you're going to just throw it all away? That is… such a waste…"

The smile faded away as the Hocotatian's voice faded off and Olimar was unable to continue. Roy did start to feel a bit guilty, but… "What's the point? It's not like any of you know me or who I am. You only know me because we were unlucky enough to get a stupid ticket to this game. If it weren't for this, we never would have met."

"That may be true, but… if we all survive this round, the _last round_, who's to say we won't stay in contact later on? You never know what will happen… you were the one who suggested a plan at getting us out of this round. Stupid and idiotic though it may have been, you still tried. Why are you suddenly giving up now? I don't know you, but I do think this is a rather drastic and sudden change in goals…"

"I'm not trying to get myself killed, nor is it my goal to die," Roy snapped. "Just… if I didn't throw Samus at Link, we both would have died, and I promised to keep her safe."

"And she is safe. Because of you. And both of you are still alive right now. You don't have to give up your life to save another. Don't give up, Roy, okay?" Olimar turned to give him a sad smile before speeding up to catch back up with the others.

The redhead pondered over the Hocotatian's words before shaking his head furiously. What was he thinking? He was always the positive one of the group, the optimistic one trying to get them all out… He didn't understand where the defeatist attitude suddenly came from. With renewed vigor, he forced more energy into his legs and sped himself up to Link and the rest.

"Hey, Link!" He called as soon as he was close enough, and the blonde turned to look at him. "Sorry for suddenly throwing Samus at you like that. No hard feelings, right?"

"Eh, it's alright. Next time actually tell me before shouting 'catch!' though, okay? Imagine what would have happened had I not caught her." The two shook hands and smirked at each other.

"Hey!" Samus intervened. "What are you apologizing to _him_ for? I'm the one you threw and _nearly got killed_!"

"Sorry, Samus," Roy apologized sheepishly, extending his hand out to her as well. "Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?" The blonde scoffed and looked away, but shook his hand anyway. Roy considered it a success.

"Guys, less talking, more running!" Lucas gasped, clearly out of breath. Olimar quickly sped up to reach him and dragged him forward, urging him to keep running along the way. Lucas groaned, but did his best to keep up.

All was going relatively well, when the ground started to shake again, tripping up all five survivors. Lucas and Olimar, well ahead of the rest, were relatively safe from the data eraser, but the other three…

Link luckily managed to keep a hold of Samus, only being knocked down to his knees. He forced himself back up and just barely managed to avoid getting erased by the moving glitch. Samus let out a quiet sigh of relief, but her relief was quickly replaced by dread when she noticed Roy wasn't getting up.

The bottom of his shoes began to dissipate into nothing, and by the time the redhead finally picked his head up, the data eraser was at his knees. "Shit!" He muttered, dragging himself backwards a few centimeters before falling flat on the forest floor again.

"Roy!" Samus shouted, and Link stopped and turned to see why she was yelling, just to suddenly come to a stop as well, watching in horror as the events unfolded. Up ahead, wondering why the others were stopping, Lucas and Olimar cautiously made their ways back.

By the time only his chest up was intact, Roy had given up on escaping. He went limp and simply gazed at himself as his body was slowly being eaten away. "Well, I got a few more minutes of life," he joked hoarsely before suddenly breaking out into a coughing fit. "Sorry, guys… Looks like this is it for me. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the end of the round… Sucks that this was the final one, too." Only his neck up remained intact. "This is actually pretty painless… I'm glad that I was able to leave like this and not like the others… In pain and agony…" He closed his eyes. "You're so close… I know you can do it…" The screeching sound the data eraser made was so loud, he couldn't hear his own voice anymore. He wasn't sure if the others could hear him either.

The last they saw of him was the red of his hair before it too scattered and the data for it dissipated into nothing, and not a single trace was left behind. The final four stared wide eyed and in shocked at the events… it happened so fast, so –

"Run!" Link was the first to remember exactly where they were and what they were doing. There was no time to mourn for the loss of Roy now; they had to do it later lest they all wound up having the same fate. Samus, having a bit of time to think for herself, looked down at her hands.

_Had I been able to run on my own, would I have been able to save him?_

**OoO**

Peach nearly jumped at the familiar sound of the floor opening. "But the power's out!" She exclaimed. "How?"

"It might be powered by Cirvex," Silver thought. "If that's the case, then that means the pods are still in working order and everyone's still trapped in the game. … Well, one of them just died, apparently. I don't know who was in that one; do you?"

Despite how insensitive he sounded, Peach knew he really didn't know better. After hearing his explanation, she didn't question him anymore. She'd bothered him enough. "The one closest to the exit on the left is Link. The one next to it is Lucas, and the one next to that, Samus. Then Roy, then Olimar who's closest to the exit on the right. I think the fourth one is going down, so… it's Roy. Roy died."

"I see…" Silver hummed. "So the game is still going on. I wonder how things changed now that Cirvex is practically being supercharged?"

"I hope no more lives will be lost," Peach bit her lip. "We've lost enough tonight."

"Not enough," a voice spoke up from behind her. "More than enough." Peach and Silver turned to see the same purple puffball the former had seen earlier with the mask and golden eyes facing them, sans pink puffball. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

"It's alright," Peach assured, though she couldn't help but wonder how it was that she would be attracting so many newcomers. Was there something about her that stood out in particular? "Um, you are?"

"Forgive my manners. You may call me Meta Knight. You are Peach, and you are Silver," he pointed at the two respectively. "I overheard you earlier as well."

The princess blushed; how long had this little creature been listening? It wasn't as if they had discussed anything particularly important or private, but still… it was a bit unnerving to learn that someone had been listening in on them the entire time. "Does that mean you heard the, um…?"

"The explanation for why Silver is here? Yes, I did. No, I will not comment more on the matter. It is none of my business."

"Um, thanks…" Silver scratched his own cheek awkwardly, unsure of what more to say. His mind trailed back to the conversation he had with Peach just ten minutes earlier…

* * *

><p>"<em>Alright, if you say so. But don't complain if it's not what you expected, okay?"<em>

_In all honesty, Silver didn't know what he was going to say. He could just outright say the reason he was there, it wasn't too bad of a secret, but he didn't exactly know how Shadow would feel about it. He had already been given the silent approval to say whatever he wanted, but he still felt bad for not being able to talk it out with the black hedgehog beforehand._

"_Okay, so… Yes, I did not come in here by normal means. The entrances were all sealed by the time I arrived here, and I came around thirty minutes ago."_

"_That's around the time you met me."_

"_Yeah! I promise I didn't do anything wrong or bad after coming in. I was lost and unsure of where to go, so I just went wherever. I guess it was pretty lucky I came in here first, huh?"_

"_Go on." The tone in the princess' voice unsettled him, and Silver gulped._

"_Right, uh… so Shadow here has this ability called the 'chaos control'. It allows him, in a nutshell, to teleport wherever he pleases. He can use this ability as long as he has a chaos emerald, a gem of great power where I come from. All seven put together can essentially make you one of, if not _the_, most powerful beings in the universe. Just one holds a lot of energy! So he can use this to teleport anywhere, and that's how I got in. Shadow essentially gave me a ride."_

"_But why did you want to come in here so badly, then? Is there something here you want?"_

_Silver shook his head. "More curiosity than anything. I knew Sonic was coming here, and I thought I'd meet up with him inside, but by the time I got here the game had already started and the entrances and exits sealed off! So I had to wait for Shadow to get over here, which didn't take long thanks to his handy ability, and… here we are."_

"_So you came here to meet up with Sonic before he entered the virtual reality?"_

"_Yeah, essentially. When we got inside, we decided to go looking around to see where the contestants were being held while in the game, and I was going to just pop in and see Sonic, since… well, it was advertised that we'd actually be able to see what was going on in here."_

"_We used to be able to. Cirvex disabled that function to keep us in the dark."_

"_Ah, I see… Well, I asked the nearest person to me exactly what was going on and why some people were crying and why others just looked really intense; I mean, this really isn't much to look at. I got my answers as well as who had already been killed. I was pretty surprised to learn that Sonic had died in the first round, but… I guess I can't do anything about that now, can I?"_

"… _Is that it?" It was almost underwhelming. Peach was expecting so much more than a simple curiosity and a want to meet up with an old friend._

"_Yeah," Silver shrugged. "I'm sorry if it's not as grandeur as you hoped it would be. I promise that's everything."_

"_But why were you so secretive about it earlier? This doesn't really seem like something you'd want to keep a secret… Well, something you wouldn't mind getting out into the public ear, at least."_

"_But that's the thing!" Silver held up a finger. "If others found out about Shadow's chaos control ability, what then? They'd try to use the chaos emeralds to harness the powers on their own to see what they can do. If we don't have all the seven chaos emeralds with Knuckles, another one of my friends, my place is pretty much screwed!"_

"_So why is Shadow still here?" Peach asked softly, trying not to let her voice carry. Shadow didn't seem to mind the conversation they were having, but she still felt odd for talking about someone who was just a few feet away. "Wouldn't he just leave the moment he got you inside?"_

"_Well…" Silver shrugged. "I guess he was pretty curious about the whole thing too."_

_Shadow hmph-ed and turned his head the other way, and Silver smiled. Peach repressed a giggle, and shook her head soon after. "Sorry for asking you all these questions, Silver… but when I tried asking you earlier, you cut me off and didn't seem to want to talk about it after. I thought it was something bigger than it really is."_

"_I can see why you thought that. It's mostly because I don't really like talking about Shadow, even when he is right next to me. He is pretty weird." Shadow reached over and pinched Silver's ear, causing the white hedgehog to yelp and swat at the offending hand lightly. "Hey, stop that!"_

_Peach allowed herself a small smile. She really had misjudged the situation and circumstances for Silver coming here… It wasn't bad at all, if he was telling the truth. And if he wasn't… well, she'd bothered him enough for now, so she would leave it at that._

* * *

><p>"So why are you here?" Silver asked. "I mean, are you waiting for anyone, or…?"<p>

"We were here for Lucas," Meta Knight responded. "Jigglypuff, the girl whom your friend Zelda saw with me earlier, and I came to watch his progress. I do not know him personally, but my friend Kirby does and could not come to keep an eye on him by himself, so we volunteered for him. Jigglypuff is off in the bathroom right now to wash her face. Even though we know no one here personally, we do understand that what is happening is horrible, and she is quite… ah, emotional."

"I see…" Peach hummed. "What do you think of the person who just went under? Roy?"

"He seemed like a very happy person, from what I saw of him earlier tonight. But all of the contestants seemed pretty happy, for that matter. I can only imagine what it's like to be betrayed like that and forced into a game of death."

"… I never really thought of what the contestants could have felt in the beginning," Silver mused. "They must have been so confused and scared when Cirvex explained that they would be fighting each other to the death… I hope this whole night doesn't haunt the survivors for the rest of their lives…"

"… Survivor," Peach corrected in a soft tone. "There can only be one."

**OoO**

Zelda, tears in her eyes, backed out of the control room slowly. What… when… when did this happen? Master Hand was dead the entire time and no one even knew. It couldn't be… Cirvex killed him? _But he only has access to the virtual world, doesn't he? Can he manipulate objects in the real world and use them as weapons? _The sharpened spear on the ground she saw seemed to prove as much, but she didn't want to believe it.

Warning bells went off in her head, telling her to get out of there before she got herself killed as well. The power was out, but since Cirvex himself was still functioning… she wasn't going to make any doubts.

_Well, I guess this kind of messes up my theory of Master Hand being the one behind all this if he's still here. Or maybe his creation turned against him?_

"No shit his creation turned against him," Zelda gasped, leaning against the wall for support as she stumbled her way out of the control room. "Cirvex killed him… his own father… probably for revenge." She felt weak in her knees; she couldn't even summon another flame to light up her path…

_Revenge for neglect? How appropriate a punishment_, the voice in her head remarked sarcastically. _Cirvex, if he was real, killed himself. His father didn't do anything._

"That's why Cirvex hated him," the brunette said as she nearly tripped over a body. She carefully stepped over the worker and continued to feel her way down the hall. "Master Hand never did anything to or with him, which led to neglect… and Cirvex hated being alone more than anything. I don't know why Master Hand downloaded his personality to use in the Cirvex 5.0, but… I guess it was more out of regret than anything. The closest thing he had to his son in the real world again… and it killed him."

Before her own voice could return the debate, a crackling sound resounded from around a corner. Her ears perked, she slowly maneuvered herself around the bodies and followed the noise as it became louder the closer she got. She knew her curiosity could potentially lead her somewhere she would regret, but on the off-chance it didn't…

A small room off to the side, a janitorial closet of sorts, was the place the noise was emanating from. Taking a deep breath, Zelda cautiously felt her way around the front and eventually inside, where the static noise was almost deafening. She brought up the courage to light another fire, and she found the source of the sound was coming from an old cassette player lying on the middle of the floor.

Slowly sitting down and extinguishing the flame, she cautiously placed the headphones lying nearby on her head and connected it to the cassette player. The static nearly deafened her for a moment and she took a moment to fumble with the controls for a lower sound. Then she sat, listening to nothing but the static. But… something sounded as if it were trying to cut through and relay a message.

"_I don't know how much longer I can… too tired…_"

Zelda's eyes widened; she knew that voice! "Link!" she shouted before she could stop herself. She thought she would never be able to hear his wonderful voice again…

"_I can't – wait, did you hear…? Sounded… - elda? Zelda?_"

The brunette was shocked that he could hear her. But this was just an ordinary cassette player, made for listening, not a phone! She shook her head; the mechanics of it didn't matter, she could talk to her beloved Link now! "Link, you can hear me? You can, right?"

"_It really is… you! Holy shit, how are you -?_"

His voice crackled off, but Zelda knew what he was trying to ask and understood his message. "Link, it is me. I don't… I don't know how exactly I'm doing this, but we can talk to each other now! Where are you and what are you doing?"

"_Running! There's this… data erasing thing… instant death if it touches us! … already lost… Roy…"_

Zelda gulped; so this wasn't the best time to make contact with him. But she wasn't about to let the cassette tape go now that it was in her hands. What a stroke of luck! "I know you can do it, Link… you can do anything."

"… _Zelda, there's… something I want – you to do._"

"Yes? Anything!"

"_I want you to remember all the good times we had together. When we first … met, and how I kept asking you out to these – fancy dances, and you – refusing, but I was damn persis – entually you agreed._"

His voice cracked and his message was getting choppy, but Zelda still understood. She held the cassette tape close to her heart. Remember the good times they had together? A wry smile crossed her face as she remembered the balls they would go to years ago. It seemed like a distant dream, something she couldn't quite believe actually happened.

"Link… why are you asking me to do this?"

"_I want – our last memory of me – something good. … In case I don't make it out alive._"

As luck would have it, the last sentence came out perfectly clear. Dread clutched hold of Zelda's heart, and she gripped the cassette tape even tighter. "Don't say that," she whispered. "You'll make it out alright; I know you will…"

"_Zelda, I ask you to humor me…_"

"Yes, anything…" She didn't want to believe these could potentially be his last words…

There was a pause on the other end as Link either tried to come up with his next words or force them out. Either way, his voice sounded strained as he finally spoke, "_One last dance… it's all I ask. Humor me with one last dance, and I'll be happy._"

A dance…? Now, of all times? "Link, I'd love to, but how?"

"_Just imagining us dancing the best dance you've ever had is enough…_" Link coughed. "_It doesn't have to be an actual dance. Just a – imagined one is good for me._"

**OoO**

Link didn't really know what he was saying, but in this one chance to talk to Zelda, he wasn't about to waste it. He didn't know if he would make it out of this game alive, but on the chance he didn't… he wanted to get everything out while he could. Samus, Lucas, and Olimar could all hear Zelda as well, but they kept silent for him.

"My favorite memories with you are the ones were we went to all these fancy and regal balls I couldn't afford," he chuckled. "So if I die, I promise that my last thought will be of us dancing together, just like the good old times. You are the most important person to me, Zelda, and I can't think of a more fitting way to go. Our final dance."

"_Link, no…!_" Zelda sounded as if she were on the verge of tears. A pang of pain struck Link's heart, making her cry, but it was what he wanted. "_You don't have to imagine it; when you get out, we can go dancing again! We won't ever have to have a last dance!_"

Link wasn't one to develop a defeatist attitude like Roy had just earlier, and he wasn't particularly resigning himself to his fate. Even with the added weight of Samus, he was able to keep a fairly good distance between them and the data eraser. Even if he tripped, he still would have enough time to pick himself back up and keep running.

He was exhausted as all hell, but he wasn't about to drop Samus just so he could live. That wasn't like him. Sure, he did what he had to do to survive up to that point… but now that he had a choice of saving people, he would take it, even if it meant exerting more energy. He wouldn't leave anyone behind to die. Not anymore.

"I'm sure we will, Zelda," he finally called. "But promise me that you'll do it too, if it happens. Don't mope over me. I'm sure I'll be fine wherever I end up."

Zelda didn't answer. Link took a deep breath; his heart felt as if it was going to burst out of his chest, he was running so hard and for so long. But adrenaline pumped through his body and forced him to keep moving. Even if Lucas or Olimar tripped up ahead, he would pick them up and carry them with. He wouldn't lose another person…

"I think… we're almost at the end!" Lucas finally called out. "The trees are getting less dense, and I can kind of see a light ahead of us!"

Compared to the vast infinite space of white nothing behind them, light ahead was most likely a good sign. "Hey, Zelda! You hear that? We're almost at the end of the final round! I'm coming home!"

He heard the sound of someone sniffing, and shook his head. She could get so emotional… but at least he wouldn't have to leave her behind all alone.

"Wait, something is wrong!" Olimar gasped. "Didn't they get erased?"

"Hey, you're right!" Lucas groaned. Link couldn't see what they were talking about. "Okay, run around them; maybe we'll be able to get past!"

It was a few seconds later that what they were talking about finally came into view; the Waterwraith and the Boost Guardian they had left behind were standing at the edge of the forest, waiting for the remaining four survivors to run right into them. "Shit," he muttered. "Of course things can't be that easy… Guys!" He called louder, "Running around them won't work; we have to kill one of them to pass!"

"That is right," Olimar muttered. "I believe the Waterwraith will be the easier of the two to take out. It is afraid of loud noises, and once it is frightened enough, it will be left in a completely vulnerable state. If we can avoid the other creature, we should be able to take it out fairly quickly!"

"With all the noise that thing is making, it should be fairly easy," Samus groaned from behind Link. "Just let it get close enough and we'll take it out. Then it's just a quick run to the edge and we're home free… literally."

Link nodded and used one hand to grip the last blade he had tightly, careful not to jar Samus and let her fall. The four survivors came close to the beasts they had yet to defeat, and the monsters moved to attack when –

The screeching noise emitting from the data eraser reached the Waterwraith, and it started to panic. Its watery form immediately turned into something dark and definitely more solid, and the steam rollers it sported rolled away from it, out of control. The four quickly moved around them lest they be crushed, and tried taking down the frightened creature. The screeching noise was almost unbearable, but if they could just get one clear hit in…

Lucas hurled Toon Link's sword with all his might at the creature, and the blade impaled its chest. It let out a giant cry of pain before slumping down, defeated. The blond child turned to look at Olimar questioningly, who shrugged. "It is fairly weak once out of its invincible state."

"That's good and all, now run!" Link shouted, and the two smallest members of their group nodded and started to make their way to the edge. The Boost Guardian was not about to let them leave, and quickly transformed into its previous ball shape to speed up to them –

When Lucas and Olimar jumped through the barrier that lined the forest's edge, they gained a transparent look about them. Their movements slowed, and they started to vanish from the feet up. Lucas looked alarmed while Olimar just seemed confused. The blond child reached out for Link to grab his hand, but before the older male could get close enough the appendage vanished into stray particles of data. They were being transported to wherever the end was.

The Boost Guardian, having already lost two of its prey, wasted no time in speeding towards the two that remained. Gritting his teeth, Link heaved Samus up and off him and tossed her through the boundary line. "Sorry, Samus!"

Samus looked as if she were going to shout a list of expletives at him, but stopped as her movements also started to slow and her own body destabilized in front of her eyes. She was gone before she even hit the ground.

Link smiled at having his three teammates go through safely when the Boost Guardian's ball form smashed into him, sending him flying in front of the forest's edge. _It couldn't have knocked me in, huh?_ He thought, and groaned as he tried to pick himself off the ground. He was so close, all he had to do was walk three steps –

The Guardian was not about to let him leave, however, and pinned him down to the ground, reverting back to its solid state. Link flinched at the sharp legs digging into the palms of his hands and tried kicking it off, but his attempts proved futile. _I am _not _about to die here; I'm so close!_

With a sudden surge of strength, he pushed his palms upward, ignoring the searing pain that came from the spears digging into his skin and drawing blood. He forced the Guardian off his body and proceeded to attempt making it to the end, when another sharp pain came from his back and eventually his stomach. The blond looked down at himself to see the Boost Guardian, in a last attempt to claim a victim, having stabbed its own leg through Link's body, efficiently skewering him.

He coughed, and blood poured out of his mouth. "Ahh…" the pain overwhelmed him and he fell back down to his knees. The exit was right in front of him; if only he could move the two feet it would take to reach it…!

"_Link! Link!_" Zelda called his name over and over, worrying for her beloved.

His eardrums exploded with the sound of screeching and realized with horror the data eraser had come upon them. The Boost Guardian seemed to snicker at Link's predicament as it held him in place, not about to let him go. Even as its data was erased by the invisible line, Link still could not move without overwhelming pain shooting throughout his body. Blood poured from the protruding object and his vision went hazy.

He didn't have any more time. In just seconds the data eraser was upon him as well, and he could feel the back of his head blossom into an unknown and unfeeling bliss. _Roy was right; this doesn't hurt…_ Nonetheless, he leaned forward to try and get himself in the forest boundary; he was so close!

His fingertips lightly brushed the edge of the forest, and it felt as if water were running through his fingers. If he could only get the rest of his body in there, everything would be alright! But he was so tired… from running, and from behind smacked into full force by the Boost Guardian… All he wanted to do was close his eyes and let everything happen…

As the data beyond his stomach began to disappear, the pain that came from the Guardian's leg vanished with it, and he was in a state of bliss. Tired and unable to feel a thing, his hand dropped, less than a feet from the forest boundary line. _At least Pit and I will be able to get that cappuccino… _He thought wearily. He couldn't hear Zelda frantically calling his name anymore.

_I'm sorry, Zelda… As I promised, I'll think back to our old dances… _He thought back to their very first dance, the one Zelda held just for him at her castle. It just just the two of them and no one else; the night was theirs. It was an enchanting night, and he knew of nothing else like it that could recreate the same feeling. How fitting it was that their first dance was also their last. _How simple things were back then..._

Then Link knew no more.


	15. The King of Bugs

**A/N: Chapter Fifteen - English - The King of Bugs**

**Today happens to be the fifth anniversary of Brawl! I looked it up for something concerning this chapter, but I didn't think it'd actually be **_**today**_**. What a coincidence!**

… **And if I am completely honest, I think the last part of this chapter is pretty rushed. I know it's a later update than usual, and I'm sorry. I wanted to keep up my weekly updates, and I just pretty much went through this chapter with absolutely no inspiration and a million distractions. The idea for this chapter's ending sounded a lot better in my head than on text.**

**Next chapter is the last before the Epilogue! I'm pretty excited for it!**

**OoO**

Lucas found himself in a black abyss.

The only sound he heard were that of his own harsh breathing, of having run at full speed through the forest and narrowly avoid being killed by the last monster. He could just barely register Olimar's presence as the small Hocotatian materialized next to him, also doubled over and gasping for breath. Somewhere behind him, Samus crashed painfully onto the ground, but she didn't even yelp from the pain.

The blonde child waited until he could breathe normally and opened his mouth to speak, but gasped and reached his hands towards his throat when he realized he could not. _What's happening? I can't talk…_

Turning his head, he saw that Olimar had the same predicament as him. The shorter male waved his arms around almost comically before sighing and giving up. Behind them, Samus lied still. Lucas worried for her, and he crossed the short distance to make sure she was alright. Olimar followed.

He tapped the bounty hunter lightly, careful to steer clear of her legs so as to not aggravate her injuries. _Samus? _He thought, biting his lip. She was still breathing, so he knew she was still alive… but for how long? They were supposed to be done with this game; that was the final round! What else could there possibly be?

… And where was Link? Lucas realized with horror that the other blonde did not return with them and looked around frantically for any sign of the man. He was nowhere in sight. Did he get captured and killed by that last monster? Lucas shuddered. He didn't want to imagine… but Link should have arrived; the eraser line would have engulfed the entire forest by now.

Trying to keep himself together, he turned to face Olimar. He could not muster up a voice, so he hoped the smaller male would be able to understand the look on his face and receive his question. The Hocotatian looked at him for a second and seemed to understand, as he merely shook his head and shrugged. Lucas sighed.

After what felt like forever, Samus finally began to stir and move. She slowly pushed herself off the ground and blinked, trying to regain her bearings. Her mouth opened, but Lucas quickly caught her attention and held up a hand, silently telling her that it was useless. There was no point in forcing something that wouldn't happen. Samus seemed confused for a moment and tried to voice her questioning concern, but realized and understood quickly.

Together the three huddled closely, looking around warily for any signs of danger. Nothing lashed out at them; they couldn't see or hear much of anything. They knew they weren't deaf, however, as they could hear the ruffles of their clothing and the taps of their feet against the what-sounded-like-marble ground, and they knew that something was going to happen. But when?

Lucas trembled with fear and anticipation. Samus pulled him closer for comfort, and pulled Olimar closer as well for assurance. They were the last three. The only three survivors… By now it had become obvious Link was not coming. They would not have his support. But… what was there to be afraid of? The game was over; there were no more rounds left! There was always the possibility that Cervix had been lying to them, but why? There was no point, besides wanting to instill false hope in the survivors…

Suddenly, it made sense. If he was indeed lying to have hope of escaping relieve the final five, they would let their guard down, having already won three previous rounds. They would slip up, and maybe Cirvex was expecting more than two of them to be killed.

_But it didn't seem like it_, Lucas thought, contemplating the possibilities. _What happened back in the forest was a glitch, no doubt about it. Cirvex yelled at us to run; if he wanted more of us to die, he wouldn't have done that, would he? He would have waited until it was too late, and then we would all die. There's still the chance that he only told us to have room for one survivor and things didn't go in his favor, but in that case, why did the forest boundary allow all three of us inside? Olimar and I ran inside together, but I think I entered just before him. If anything, I should have been the winner, and Olimar may as well could have been killed on the spot… but he wasn't. He's here with me, right now, alive and as well as he can be. I don't know what's happening and that fact is frustrating me more than anything…!_

Irritated, Lucas groaned silently and his hands flew to his head, scratching at it and messing up his hair. Samus disapprovingly swatted his hands away, but that didn't do anything to alleviate the young child's anger. She was just as clueless as he was; the only thing they could do now was stay together and wait for the end.

Lucas didn't even know how much time had passed until the familiar voice of Cirvex finally rang out to him. He didn't think he'd ever be so glad to hear the voice of the person who had tortured him and his new friends so, of the one who had gotten so many people killed in one night. In a way, it was a bloodless massacre. No one on the outside would know or understand the trauma the three present survivors had gone through; they could never know. They only saw their loved ones on the outside with their eyes closed, never to awaken again… they didn't have to see their mutilated bodies.

"_You three are the only ones left._" Cirvex's voice was smooth and deep, not quite like a boy who had already gone through puberty, but of one who was solemn and understood the pain they were going through. Lucas clenched his fist. He had no idea. "_I would congratulate you three on making it this far, even despite the setback we encountered last round. I assure you that wasn't planned… but I'm afraid this isn't the end._"

"You liar!" Samus and Olimar jumped at the sudden shout from the boy next to them. They could talk now? "You said the last round was the final one! Why are you putting us through another one _now_?!"

Cirvex was silent for a moment as he mulled over the blond's words. "_… I did say the last round was the final one, yes. But I never said I was putting you three through another one._"

"What else is there to do?" Olimar asked before Lucas could. "We passed your final round, but…" Realization dawned on him. "… Oh. I see."

Lucas snapped his attention to the Hocotatian. "What? What do you see? What is planning on doing now?"

"What I'm more interested in is why we weren't allowed to talk earlier, but it's perfectly fine now," Samus mused.

"_I'm sorry for muting you all earlier_." He sounded sincere enough. "_I was afraid of what would happen if I allowed you three to converse with each other. With how Lucas is acting now, I believe I was right._"

"What?" Lucas glared. He was still terrified, yes, but he couldn't stand being lied to. He didn't want to go on. He was promised the end and he wanted _that_!

"_It seems there was a slight miscalculation. We lost Roy and Link in the last round, and you three passed. But if you'll remember, which I know Lucas does… there is only supposed to be one survivor. How do you propose we go and fix that?_"

"We hold a bonus round," Olimar whispered. It was mostly to himself, but the two other survivors next to him heard and instantly became more alert.

"_Precisely, Olimar. But this won't be the same as the first round, nor will it be an all-out brawl. You three will fight, but it won't be each other. Your enemy this time around… is me._"

Suddenly the temperature dropped twenty degrees, and they shivered in the cold. In front of them, a newcomer materialized. A boy, most likely in his early teens, formed with blond hair and green eyes, looking down at them coolly. His green turtleneck sweater fit him snugly, and his pale skin almost seemed to glow. He wore an expression of solemnity and regret. "_This is me,_" he said. "_My form before I became what you saw me as on the outside. I don't know if I was technically given a second chance at life, or if I just have Cirvex's memories and personality downloaded into me. Who's to say Cirvex would have never done this? Perhaps I'm just a cold and unfeeling machine, wanting to take revenge for something I could have never prevented. I don't know if we're the same person, and I don't know who I am._

"_I do know some facts, however. I am not perfect. I am unstable. Tonight I held a massacre which claimed the lives of seventeen people and soon to be nineteen. I allowed my emotions, whether they were real or false, to get the better of me, and out of anger I killed Captain Falcon. I vowed to never intervene in my own game, but I did just that once. I killed my own father out of anger, and I still don't know how I feel about it. My emotions and conflictions are all over the place, and I can't be bothered to control them now. Tonight, I am going to fight the three survivors of this game. Tonight, one of you is going to kill me and return safely to the real world._"

Samus took a deep breath. "Is that all? We're just going to kill you? What happens if all three of us survive our battle?"

"You'll just cheat," Lucas muttered. "You control everything here. It won't be a fair battle."

"_I do have something planned for if there is more than one person alive in the end,_" Cirvex answered. "_Even though I have been practically publically supporting Olimar and Lucas throughout these rounds, I will not hold back. I will kill them if I must. None of you are safe. And Lucas_," he turned to the boy. "_I promise this will be a fair fight. You still may not use your PSI powers, Samus may not use her Varia suit, and Olimar may not rely on his Pikmin, but I will be handicapped as well. The only weapons I will possess are this sword, and this shield._"

Out of nowhere materialized a clean steel blade and a metallic shield. Lucas swore the design on the shield looked familiar, three triangles formulated into one giant one, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where it was from.

"_I will not have any extra powers, so this fight will be as fair as can be. I promise you, I will not cheat and make anyone spontaneously explode. I will aim to kill any two of you, and all three of you will aim to kill me. Once my life has been taken, the bonus round will be over, and the last person standing will be free to go, I promise. If there is more than one, you'll see our tiebreaker._"

He closed his eyes, and Samus felt a tingling sensation in her legs and hand. She realized after a moment that he was healing them, and soon it was as if she had never broken her limbs at all. Surprised but not complaining, she gripped her dagger tightly and stood, readying herself into a battle stance. Next to her, Olimar did the same with his reflector. The Hocotatian wasn't sure how well his own weapon would do compared to a melee one, but it was better than nothing.

Lucas shifted awkwardly, having no weapons of his own. He had thrown Toon Link's sword at the Waterwraith just a little earlier, and he hadn't thought of running to retrieve it. He thought it was the end; how was he supposed to know he'd be forced into another battle?

As if his thoughts were read, a small gun was thrown into his hands. He looked up to see Cirvex shrugging. "_You needed something to defend yourself. I know you had a sword, but because I already have one, I gave you something different. Use the blaster simply by pulling the trigger. Be careful of the knockback, despite how little it is. Don't worry about the proper way of holding a gun; just don't shoot yourself with it. Are you three ready?_"

"Um," Olimar spoke up, raising his hand. "I do have a slight question before we begin." He paused before asking, "Is there a time limit? Or are we just doing this until we all drop dead?"

Cirvex smiled softly. "_There is indeed a time limit. The time is currently seven forty five, and the deadline was eight in the morning, correct? This means you three only have fifteen minutes to take my life, or else the gas will be released in all of your pods and everything you have done thus far will be for naught. If we go into our tiebreaker if I am killed when only two people are left, that little round must be completed in these last fifteen minutes as well lest you both die anyway. Are there any more questions?_"

The three survivors turned to look at each other. They had none. Cirvex closed his eyes and took a deep breath, despite not needing it. "_Very well. Ready, set… begin._"

**OoO**

Zelda sat alone in the custodian's closet, holding the cassette player close to her heart. It hadn't yet dawned on her how this little device was able to get her in contact with Link, but she didn't care. She had shouted his name multiple times, but he didn't answer a single one of them… through the player, she heard a loud screeching noise that almost made her ears bleed, but she didn't care about it. Once that screeching noise had disappeared, everything was silent. She called out Link's name one final time, but he still didn't answer…

A small piece of paper near where she found the player caught her attention, and she slowly reached for it. She lit up a small flame with her hand and held the note close so that she could read it. The handwriting on it was neat and tidy, and as she read on, she began to understand.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Cirvex,<em>

_Happy birthday! I know this is a little late, but you know how busy I am with work! I'm sorry I can't be there for you right now, but I hope you're doing well in school and have fun with a lot of your friends. If you need anything, you can always ask Uncle Crazy. Remember that he's in charge when I can't be around, which… is a lot of the time, but you know how important this is to me. I am almost done with this project, and it'll be great! I promise you'll be the first to try it out._

_What you see here may seem like an ordinary cassette player, but I assure you it's not. It's something I had my scientists and designers come up with during their downtime as a way of passing the time, and I think it'd make a wonderful birthday present for you! I'd like to call it the 'thought transmitter' since you've always said I was never create, but feel free to rename it yourself if you like._

_How does it work? Simple, really! All you have to do is turn it on, and automatically it will connect with the one person you want to talk to most. You can then just talk into it, and that other person will be able to interact with you at that exact moment! Unfortunately it isn't completely foolproof as it's just a prototype and whatever you say won't be directly channeled to the target person's brain; it'll simply resound over the entire area that person is in, so everyone around him can hear what you say, too. I promise, once we perfect this device, you'll be the first to get a copy!_

_So you can use this however you want, but please be sparing when you want to talk to me. I am very busy, as you know, and I can't afford to slack off on the job too often. I do hope you'll understand and forgive me. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask Crazy! He'll explain for you since he knows how this works. Somehow he always seems to understand everything I do, even if he is… well, crazy…_

_Nonetheless, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and you're one year older! My son, now thirteen years old… you all do grow so fast. I promise I'll come home soon, Cirvex. Please wait for me._

_Love,_

_Dad_

* * *

><p>Zelda realized that the player she held in her hands was indeed the same contraption Master Hand had created for Cirvex on his thirteenth birthday. So that was how she was able to contact Link… it was a spectacular device, but how did it work? Technically Link was in two places at once; his physical body was inside of a capsule on the stage, but his mentality was in a virtual world. Obviously it wasn't transmitted to his unresponsive body, but how was it able to connect with his conscious? It didn't make sense!<p>

But if Master Hand was able to create a machine that allowed peoples' minds and conscious to transfer into a virtual reality and partake in one giant video game, she didn't doubt that he was able to create this as well. But how exactly did it work? The technology was foreign to her, and she didn't understand how any of this could have even been possible. The world was astounding.

_But wait_, she thought, reaching out for another paper she found close by. _It says in this letter that this was Cirvex's present for his thirteenth birthday… how old was he when he killed himself?_

It was an old news article, dated five years prior. '_Master Hand Distraught; Going to Discontinue the Virtual Reality Project?_' was the headline, and in the black and white picture she noticed the giant hand looking out into the camera, but she wasn't able to tell what he was thinking or feeling. He didn't have a face, so it was impossible for her to tell.

Her eyes scanned the article quickly, getting all the information it told as fast as possible. Something had bothered him greatly, and there were rumors going around debating on whether or not he was going to discontinue the then-unnamed virtual reality project. _This must be when Cirvex killed himself,_ Zelda thought, biting her lip. _There's no other reason Master Hand would have been so upset…_

She looked at the date. February 10th, 2008. Exactly five years ago… That was Cirvex's birthday, right? Meaning today, he would have been celebrating his seventeenth birthday…. She almost felt bad, but then she remembered everything he did, and all sympathy was replaced with loathing and hatred. She could never feel bad for someone like this.

But she was wasting time. Link was still her primary concern, and so she grabbed both the birthday letter and the newspaper article along with the cassette player and quickly made her way out of the closet. Her hand aglow, she maneuvered her way around the bodies, trying not to focus on them too much and resolved to make her way back to the auditorium with her sanity still intact.

Eventually she did without too much problems, and realized with sudden clarity that the voice that had been patronizing her for the past while was suddenly completely silent. _Guess that newspaper article and letter proved it_, she thought smugly as she pushed open the doors to the auditorium. Surprisingly, despite the confusion and complaints that had spread through the area when she had left, the place was actually almost completely silent save for the few whispers when she returned.

She almost would have run straight into a much smaller male if it weren't for the bright blue light that glowed softly on top of an antenna-like thing on his glass helmet. "Oh, sorry," she mumbled, moving out of the way so he could pass. He didn't, however, and simply stared up at her expectantly. "… Um," Zelda was at a loss of what to say. She wanted in as fast as possible, but she didn't want to be rude. "Excuse me? Can I come in?"

He continued looking up at her creepily before finally nodding and moving out of the way. She passed him with ease and as she turned around, she noticed that he closed the door behind her and continued to stand there. Was he acting as some sort of guard or something? What happened while she was away?

"Zelda!" She heard Peach's voice cry out, and she turned her head just in time to see her best friend tackle her into a hug. The blonde's body shook with tears, and Peach's voice was hoarse from crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"What? What's wrong? What happened, Peach?" Peach merely shook her head and continued to cry.

"Please don't be angry… It'll be okay, I promise… We'll move past this together…" Confused and getting more irritated by the second, Zelda softly pushed the blonde head out of the way to glance at the front stage, still illuminated softly with the lights glowing from Cirvex's mechanical body. Dread seeped in her heart when she realized there were only three pods left. And in the space where Link's pod was… there was nothing.

Dread settled in her heart as her worst fear was realized. She felt like someone punched her in the stomach, and she couldn't breathe. Tears lined the corners of her eyes, and even though she knew Link wouldn't want her to cry over him…

"Oh my God," she muttered softly, her own voice sounding frail and weak. That screeching noise… what exactly _was _it? For all she knew, she could have been listening to Link's death the entire time without even realizing it… She swore her heart stopped beating, and thought that it would never beat again. Why… why did this have to happen?

Slowly she lowered herself to the floor, the tears streaming down her face as her body shook and trembled with silent sobs. She didn't want to be too loud out of courtesy of the other audience members, but… this was a nightmare. It had to be. How could it be that last morning, they were laughing and playfully insulting and joking around with each other, and now one of them was dead? Things like that didn't just _happen_! It was supposed to be a gradual thing, one they would come to acknowledge and accept when they were of old age! He wasn't supposed to die! No!

Peach wrapped her arms around her best friend slowly, trying not to trigger another onslaught of tears. She knew Zelda needed this time to herself, but she couldn't just leave her there alone… She wished Silver would come and help, but she knew he was keeping his distance out of respect for the both of them. This was something private between _them_, and he wouldn't get in the way of that.

"Shh," she hushed, trying to calm Zelda down. "It'll be okay, it'll be okay… I'm still here; you can always lean on me…" She had it easier, she thought. Mario wasn't one of the contestants, and she knew he'd be okay. Even if she wasn't very close to Luigi, she still found it selfish of her to be glad that it was her boyfriend's brother who had entered and died and not Mario. That guilt would nag at her for the rest of her life, but for now, all she needed to do was be a shoulder to lean on for her best friend.

Zelda spent a few more minutes trying to collect herself before she was able to reach up and wipe the remainder of her tears away. _I'm so hopeless_, she thought furiously to herself. _I can't even… be strong for the one I love… I just never imagined he would be taken away from me so soon…!_

Seeing the anger flash in the brunette's eyes, Peach decided to intervene before Zelda did anything dangerous. "I am so, _so _sorry about Link…" she whispered. "And I know this will seem really insensitive, but I want to know… did you find Master Hand…? What did he say?"

Zelda started to shake again, and found that she couldn't cry anymore. Nonetheless, she just barely managed to whisper, "No good, Peach… he's been dead this entire time."

Peach gasped and covered her mouth. Behind her, Silver's ears perked as he picked up their conversation and his face grew solemn. If they couldn't rely on Master Hand… what could they do now? There was only ten minutes left on the clock; they didn't have time to do anything… In ten minutes, everything would be over.

A large spark caught the audience's attention, and every head turned to the front stage where the Cirvex 5.0 began to crackle with electricity. "What's happening?" Peach asked, worry gnawing inside of her.

"Looks like he's using more power now than ever," Shadow observed, leaning back nonchalantly in his chair. "If he doesn't use less electricity, he might overheat. Who knows what will happen to the people who are still alive then?"

"We have to help them!" Silver cried and moved to take a position at the stage, but was stopped by the black hedgehog. A gloved hand wrapped around his arm and pulled him back. "Shadow!" Shadow looked up at him under half-lidded eyes.

"What are you going to do, Silver? Use your powers to hold the electricity in? That will only serve to heat up the machine even more. You and everyone here have tried so hard to do something and to make a difference, but what did you even do? Absolutely nothing. Anything and everything you can do will only serve to get everyone in there killed faster. Stay back and leave the rest to fate."

Silver clenched his fists and looked down at the ground. Peach watched the banter between them, worried and wondering if she should intervene. Before she could act, however, the same short male who had been blocking the entrance earlier made his way down the aisle and past the four of them. Meta Knight had stayed somewhere behind, not wanting to get caught in the middle of an ongoing feud, and Jigglypuff, the pink marshmallow that had been with him earlier, had returned as well and only chose to stay near him.

Next to the male with the blue light was a peculiar and yellow little creature with large eyes and ears. It stared unblinkingly at the princesses, giving them an odd feeling. The male it was walking with grabbed its tiny hand and led it down the steps, walking ever closer to the front stage where the sparks were flying.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zelda asked, picking herself up and rubbing at her face to get rid of the dampness her tears had left behind. Her eyes were puffy and red, her heart still ached for the man she lost, and her voice was still shaky and hoarse. But if Peach could be so strong to not cry the entire night when she learned of Luigi's death… then she could do it too, right? _Even though I was closer to Link than she was to Luigi_, she thought bitterly. _But it's only ten minutes… Once these ten minutes are up, I can have all the time in the world to mourn over Link… I'm so sorry…_

The blond male stopped in his tracks for a moment and turned to look at them before continuing his descent without a word. Peach moved from Zelda's side to follow him, and Silver moved with her. Despite putting all of her own will to move in her body, the brunette found that she could not take even a single step to follow them. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide from the world forever…

"The loss of someone important to you is hard at first," Shadow suddenly spoke up, and she turned to face him with tired eyes. "But eventually you'll learn to move on. You don't ever have to forget about the person you're mourning over, but you can accept that what happened is reality and move on with your life rather than wasting it over one incident."

"This isn't just _one incident_," Zelda hissed. "Link was my—"

"I know what he was to you," the hedgehog interrupted her. "I've been in the same situation as you. I've lost someone I cared about before. Don't think this is all about you. I don't care about you or your ex-boyfriend, but it's annoying as all hell to me hearing you cry over it every second. You wanted to do something earlier, and now that your precious Link is gone, you don't want to do anything anymore? Peach was thinking selfish thoughts earlier, but princess, I believe _you_ are the most selfish one of all."

Zelda shook, speechless. She didn't know how she was supposed to respond to what he said. _… But maybe I'm not supposed to talk about? Maybe he just wants me to think about his words…_

Down at the front stage, Peach and Silver came to a stop as the male they had been tailing suddenly picked the yellow creature up with ease and placed it onto the sparking machine. "Are you trying to kill it?" Peach asked, horrified.

But the creature didn't scream or cry out in pain. Instead, it let out a rather joyous yip and seemed to try and snuggle closer to the machine, absorbing all of the electricity it could. The static moved from the machine into its own body, but it didn't seem to be hurting the creature at all.

"That's a yellow Pikmin," the short male said when he noticed his pursuers staring in surprise. "It's resistant to electricity and is immune to anything that can shock it. I figured I could do this to prevent the system from overloading and losing the three people who are still alive."

"That's… amazing," Silver blinked. "Who are you?"

The blond smirked and finally turned to face them head on. "While this is a Pikmin, they aren't necessarily my specialty. My name is Louie, but you two and everyone else may call me the King of Bugs."

**OoO**

Lucas breathed heavily, sore and tired from running and attacking. Cirvex had healed all three of them before their battle so as to make the fight more fair, but…

_It's no use_, he thought bitterly. _He's a machine, and we're only human… Well, Samus and I are, anyway. But because he isn't real, he'll never run out of energy… Once we're all too exhausted to move, he can just pick us all off one by one…_

"_Five minutes remaining_," Cirvex announced as he ducked under Samus' dagger and kicked Olimar off to the side, sending the small male flying, "_You may want to hurry up before everything is lost._"

_We need to think of a plan_, Lucas thought as he watched his fellow survivors take their chances to attack their common enemy once more. _We can't keep this up forever…_

Suddenly, right in front of him, Samus flickered in and out of the virtual world. "Whoa!" Apparently she noticed her own body glitching, and she lost all momentum she had just a moment earlier and tumbled non-too-gently onto the floor. Cirvex kicked her away. "What the hell was that?"

"_I'm overloading_," Cirvex explained simply as he easily used the blunt end of his sword to ram Olimar away. "_It's taking too much power just keeping my form here. I was able to do it last time without too much problems, but I guess I wasn't meant to be kept running for this long… I guess father didn't create the perfect machine after all._" He smiled bitterly. "_I wonder what will happen first: five minutes pass, or the power going out?_ _Keep in mind, if I am lost during a power outage, so are the three of you. It's astounding, though; I think we would have lost power already… is something happening out in the real world?_"

Lucas was hit with realization. "I know how I can beat him," he whispered and looked down at the palms of his hands. It wasn't foolproof, but he didn't have the time to think of another plan. It was stupid, and he would most likely get himself hurt in the process, but… what else could he do? As long as he was careful, he could get all three of them out.

Cirvex kicked Olimar up high in the air and rammed him back down to the ground, eliciting a loud _thud_ that echoed through the cyberspace. The Hocotatian rolled weakly and shuddered once before falling limp, but still alive. Cirvex raised his sword up high and had a slight moment's hesitation before plunging it down—

But Samus intercepted the attack before the blade could puncture the spacesuit of the small male, and tackled Cirvex into the ground, knocking his blade away. She held him down using all over her strength; she had the advantage of being larger than her opponent and was able to drive her elbow into his stomach multiple times. It felt surprisingly lifelike as the boy underneath her coughed and twisted in pain, trying to kick her off.

Finally, she raised her own dagger up high, ready to deliver the final blow. Cirvex cracked open an eye and smiled wryly as he suddenly flipped over backwards, sending the woman above him tumbling off in front of him. He kicked her down to the ground and took a moment to catch his breath – true to his word, he did indeed lower his own power and strength, and he was just as vulnerable as any of them. His face contorted in pain and he doubled over, distracted for the time being.

Lucas took this moment to make his move. His tennis shoes tapped loudly against the floor as he ran towards his enemy and tackled him back down to the ground before he was able to fully recover. "Samus! Get him now!" The womanly form of Samus and the light from Olimar's helmet flickered again, stronger than last time. Just a second later, they flickered again, and the glitches were becoming more rampant. There was no time left. "Samus!"

Samus quickly got to her feet and nearly fell again when the ground beneath her disappeared and reappeared in less than a second, catching her off guard. Holding the dagger in her hand tightly, she sped towards the two blonds and raised her blade up high before bringing it down with all of her might.

The next few seconds went in slow motion for all three people involved. Cirvex suddenly shifted and his and Lucas' positions were switched; the younger blond was on top, and the malevolent AI was on bottom. The boy just barely saw the faintest hint of a wicked smile on his enemy's face, and his eyes widened as he saw the blade come closer and closer. He squirmed, but Cirvex's grip on him was iron, and he could go nowhere.

"Shit!" Samus grunted as she realized what Cirvex had just done, but was too late to stop the momentum of the blade. Lucas coughed as the dagger was jabbed deep into his chest, and crimson liquid spurted from the wound and onto his face and her hands. The blonde woman gasped and let go of the blade of the handle, not daring taking it out lest she make the wound worse.

Cirvex chuckled and pushed Lucas off of his body, sending the boy rolling along the floor. "_Nice try, Lucas,_" he said sadly, shaking his head. "_It was a worthy effort._"

Lucas felt the tears spring to his eyes and he gasped, trying to get air to enter his lungs. He was so, so stupid! But he had to try! Everything he had done was all for nothing…! Sobs wrecked his body as he struggled for life, to keep the blood still inside of him. His vision was getting darker by the second; he could hear Cirvex's voice, but not a word he was saying. Everything was just a garbled mess to him, and with each beat of his heart he could feel his blood pour out of his body. He was being overcome with the want and need to sleep…

"_I really am sorry, Lucas,_" Cirvex shook his head. "_I was particularly fond of you. But I suppose things don't always end how we would like._"

Lucas closed his eyes for the last time and let Cirvex's voice ring in his head. Part of him was horrified that _his_ voice of all things was the last thing he would ever hear, but the other part of him just didn't care. He could finally rest… and a moment later, he slipped into darkness.

Samus was shocked at what she had just done. Another person lost… and someone she was beginning to warm up to. First Roy, then Link, and now Lucas… All three people with entire _futures_ ahead of themselves, all ripped from them. Anger overcame her, and she resolved right then and there that she was _not_ going to leave this world knowing that Cirvex was still alive.

But she didn't have to do anything, it seemed. While Cirvex was distracted with Lucas' death, Olimar had taken the time to grab the sword that had been dropped just moments earlier and, mustering all the strength he could get in his small body, jammed the blade in the blond's back as far and as hard as he could. Cirvex let out a surprised shout of pain and tumbled to the ground, allowing the Hocotatian to drive the blade in even deeper.

Cirvex gasped in pain as he felt his own sword cut through his body. _This agonizing pain_, he thought, trying not to scream, _this is what everyone I've dragged here tonight felt… I finally understand…_

Olimar took a tentative step back, on guard in case Cirvex was about to stand up and continue fighting like he had done earlier. Samus stood by his side, ready to fight if need be. What they didn't expect, however, was for the blond AI to remain face down on the ground, shaking in both pain and sadness. Tears welled up and fell from his eyes as everything he had done the entire night suddenly hit him; he understood what everyone had been going through, what he _himself _had forced them through…

"_I'm a monster_," he whispered. "_When did I stoop so low…?!_"

"A little pain and he's become completely undone," Samus muttered. "How weak. He's just like a child."

Olimar looked at the sobbing boy solemnly. "… That's because he _is _a child."

"_I was so selfish and hungry for attention that I created an entire world based on exacting revenge against my father,_" Cirvex realized, "_Dragging in twenty innocents that had nothing to do with my death… why… why am I so stupid?!_ _I can't even handle a defeat without crying… it's no wonder my father always talked to me as if he was talking to a baby. I'm such an idiot…!_"

Red liquid bloomed from the impalation of the sword and spread across his green turtleneck sweater, turning the fabric into a sickening dark brown. "_Aah…_" Cirvex muttered in pain and utterly collapsed. "_I thought I would be ready for this… I'm not ready for anything. I didn't want to die; I was terrified the first time, and here I am, experiencing death yet again… It's only fitting for someone like me…_" The two survivors did nothing but watch.

He flickered in and out of existence, and off in the distance, a bright light shone. Cirvex took a moment to compose himself before addressing it. "_I… I'm sorry, you two… I don't expect an apology, and I don't want one… I'm just… I've learned a lot tonight… And I regret s-so much now… That light in the d-distance, o-over there,_" he stuttered, suddenly finding it hard to speak. He hadn't felt physical pain in so long… "_That is your exit. O-Only one of you may pass, and the person who does will be t-transferred back to the r-real world… and the one left behind will be k-killed insta-instantly…_"

Olimar gulped. Samus was much larger and faster than him; in the time it would take him to reach the halfway point, she would already have passed through the exit. _I guess this is it for me_… He thought as he looked down at his flickering hands.

"_G-good luck, you two… I… I have nothing left t-to say… I'm s-so… sorry… J-just go._"

He let out another dry sob, and his body vanished into millions of stray particles that disappeared seconds later. The two stared at where his body was before the ground started to shake, throwing off the balance of both of them.

"Cirvex…" Olimar whispered, looking down at the ground.

"We'd better hurry. I'll give you a head start," Samus muttered, standing back up and grabbing the smaller male by the back of his suit, raising him high. "I only wish I could have killed him myself." With newfound and sudden strength, she hurled the Hocotatian as far as she could, ignoring his yelp at the harsh move.

He landed non-too-gently, and a _crack _was heard as his arm impacted the floor. Pain shot up the limb and into his shoulder, and he held it gently while picking himself up and running as fast as he possibly could to the light._ Why did she give me a head start?_ He thought. _She could have just taken life for herself…_

Samus waited a few seconds before breaking out into a sprint. The ground rumbled beneath her feet and almost threw her off multiple times, but she remained steady and her light weight was able to keep her upright and at a constant pace. The sky flashed white multiple times, and the two feared the return of the data eraser, speeding along behind them, hoping to catch the two survivors in its midst. One look back from Samus saw Lucas' body become engulfed by the darkness, and a certain pain tugged at her heart. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing the eraser do the same to Cirvex.

Both survivors were near the end; Olimar was closer, but Samus was faster. At the rate they were going, they would reach the exit at almost the same time… Olimar gulped; why was he even trying? Apparently Samus wanted him to have a chance, but _why_?

The exit was directly in front of both of them now. With a quick lash of an arm, a figure reached an arm out and took a deep breath. And a second later, that person jumped through the light, leaving the virtual world behind them forever.


	16. Finis

**A/N: Chapter Sixteen - Latin - Finis. - The End.**

**Here we are, the final chapter. Most of this takes place in the real world and only one small section takes place in the virtual world (hint: it's a flashback), but I do hope it's still enjoyable nonetheless.**

**Next week we'll have the Epilogue, and this story will finally be completed.**

**OoO**

"Fox McCloud, at the scene and waiting for orders. Over."

Behind the fox stood what could almost be considered an army of soldiers, armed and ready to storm their way in. All entrances to the building had been sealed off by an unknown force, probably the one who had initiated the event going on inside, and nothing they did to break down the walls worked. Fox hadn't a clue on what was happening inside, but all he wanted was to just get everyone in _out_ and apprehend the criminal.

He blinked as the tall bird next to him kicked the entrance they stood in front of out of sheer annoyance. "When are we going to get inside, huh?" The bird asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "We've been here almost all night, and you've been sending that same message for hours! No one knows what to do; we're just doing nothing here!"

"Falco, we have a mission and we're going to see it finished."

"We can't do the mission if we can't even get inside!"

"I say my offer to blow the whole place to bits still stands," a wolf next to them grunted. He also seemed annoyed, though not as much as the bird, and in his hands was a radio. Presumably, Fox thought grimly, to call in his idiotic friends with their explosives.

"Wolf, you are not calling Panther and Leon. Put the radio away."

"Killjoy," but the wolf smirked and slid the radio securely in his pocket. He didn't know why the fox hated his acquaintances so much as the one usually bothering him was Wolf himself, but he assumed that Panther hitting on his girlfriend all the damn time had something to do with it. Pup had to loosen up, he thought.

Fox frowned. "Wolf, there could be hundreds of civilians in that building. We are _not_ blowing them sky high."

"Anything to catch the criminal."

"No, Wolf. Our job is to apprehend the criminal _alive_. Only in very dire circumstances are we to shoot first and ask questions later. We don't even know what's going on in there."

"And that's why I'm saying this is stupid!" Falco spoke up, feeling a bit left out. "We don't know who sent the distress signal or why. They didn't leave a name, and they didn't even tell us what's going on in here. The only thing that's preventing us from leaving _right now_ is the fact that all of these entrances being sealed off is _suspicious_ or something."

"How is this not suspicious?" Fox asked incredulously. "Maybe they didn't have time to leave details."

"Us standing around here like fools isn't saving any lives," Wolf smirked cooly, drawing Fox's ire. "If Pepper hasn't given any orders, maybe that means he's given up as well."

"Either that or he's just tired of Fox's constant calling," Falco yawned. "Maybe this was all just an elaborate prank, and we're being had. Let's just go home."

Fox shook his head. "We still have to figure out what's going on in there. Falco, this is our _job. _You're perfectly okay with leaving a bunch of innocents in danger?"

Falco held up his wings in a defensive stance. "Hey, hey, I never said that. But we don't anything about this mission or what's going on; we haven't even heard a single peep from inside this whole time! Yeah, this is the place where that video game thing was supposed to be held tonight, but if there are so many people in there, don't you think one of them would have the thought to just come up and _let us in_?"

"Maybe there's something preventing them from reaching the exits," Fox mused, holding a hand to his chin. He walked closer to the entrance door and pounded on it as hard as he could. "Hey! Is anyone in there? Can you hear me?"

"You already tried that three hours and thirty five minutes ago," Wolf stated blandly, looking down at his digital watch. "No one came up then, and no one will come up now. What makes you think trying hours later is going to make a difference?"

Fox groaned. "You try something then, wise guy."

"All right, just let me take out my radio and call in Panther and Leon—"

"Except that."

"Yeah, I'm with Foxie on this one. Anything except that." Falco shuddered visibly. "That Leon guy creeps me the hell out. How can you stand to be around him? He's so… weird."

"Same reason you hang around with Slippy all the time," Wolf retorted.

"Slippy isn't that bad," Falco defended his absent friend. "He doesn't have a deep voice and he doesn't talk all slow-like and is just '_hsss faaaaalcooo let me sssssee your shoooweeerrrr_'. Like, what the hell does he need to check my shower for?"

"Would you two just shut up?" Fox interrupted their conversation before Wolf could retort and defend his acquaintance. "We're on a mission, here, and you two aren't helping."

"What are _you _doing to help out this fine Saturday morning, hm?"

"Not arguing like a child, that's for sure." The fox flicked Wolf's nose idly, causing the latter to retract in defense with his paws covering his face. "Now stop bickering and let's actually think of a way insi—"

He was interrupted by a loud boom from within, and his fur stood on end as he whipped around as if he could see the source of the noise by just staring at the door. "What the hell was that?" Falco asked, stepping closer.

Fox simply shook his head. "Is that proof enough for you, Falco?"

Before the avian could come up with a decent retort, the front doors opened completely on their own, finally allowing the soldiers a chance inside. No one stood at the entrance, and the inside was completely dark as far as the eye could see. Falco gulped, Fox narrowed his eyes, and Wolf didn't seem affected at all.

"Come on, team. We're finally going in."

**OoO**

Louie's eyes widened in surprise and he let out an astonished gasp as the yellow Pikmin was thrown off the sparking machine. The creature hit the ground with a _thud_ and stood up shakily, patting itself off to make sure it was alright. The blue Hocotatian knelt next to it to check for himself.

"That's strange," he muttered after ensuring the Pikmin's safety and health. "I've never seen a Pikmin get thrown off a non-moving electrical hazard before… What happened?"

The Pikmin let out a high pitched noise not unlike that of a child's and pointed frantically at Cirvex's mechanical body. The machine hadn't sprung to life and developed legs to throw it off, but without an absorb it to contain the excess electricity, it was now sparking more than ever and on the verge of overloading.

Peach yelped in surprise as the pod next to her suddenly shifted into motion, moving into the ground. The blonde princess was just barely able to get a look at who was inside the pod – the little blond boy she knew was Lucas – and the gas that was released inside before it sunk below the surface of the stage. "Lucas…!" She cried.

"Damn it," Silver muttered. "Now it's only two left, huh?"

Louie tried easing the Pikmin back onto the machine, but the yellow plant shook its head and continued to cling onto his arm instead. The blond frowned and nudged it closer, but the Pikmin merely held onto his sleeve even tighter. "Please? For me?" It shook its head. "What if it's to save Olimar's life? I know you like him more than me…" It seemed to consider this, but again shook its head, refusing to step any closer to the machine.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Peach asked, wanting to do something to help but not wanting to step closer and get herself shocked. "Or is the only thing we can do now is just wait?"

Before either of the other two males could answer her, Cirvex's voice rang out from the machine instead, startling the three closest to it. "_Step… back… You don't know… what you're doing._"

"We're trying to save everyone!" Peach shouted. "Let them go!"

"_Let them go…? Silly princess… there isn't a thing you can do now. The game is over… Your victor will emerge soon. Just wait… and let nature take its course…_"

"This isn't nature!" Silver stepped up. "_You _were the one playing God! _You _thought it would be alright to take twenty innocent people and hold reign over their lives if they didn't do what you said! _You _killed them! _You _stole nineteen lives before their time was up!"

"_I don't need you to tell me that._" More electricity surged from the machine in a larger burst, causing all three individuals plus the yellow Pikmin to take a few steps back, even if the latter didn't need to. "_You think I haven't gotten enough lectures from my father about that already? From Lucas, from Olimar, and now from you? Stop it! I know what I did! Even in my last few minutes, I can't escape from you people!_"

"Let Samus and Olimar go, and we'll leave you alone," Peach muttered, not wanting to anger the already agitated AI. "We don't want to hurt you. I promise we'll leave if you just let them go."

"_It doesn't matter. I'm dying again anyway. I'm so unstable I can't even keep myself alive for one night. Haha. What business do you even have here anyway, princess? The one you came for is dead, and the one you stayed for is dead as well. You have nothing to stay for._"

"That's…" Peach clenched her fists. Before she could come up with a decent reply, one of the two pods started to seep smoke and the glass cover started to lift, revealing the survivor of the night. "Y-you're…?"

"… _It seems my game has finally come to an end._"

Samus blinked, sitting up and looking confused at the three strangers staring at her. "What? Who are you?" Realization set in her mind and she shook, looking down at her hands. _I'm real_, she thought. _I… I made it out alive._ _I won._

Louie looked distraught. Peach and Silver stared back at her, the sole survivor of the night's events. "You're… Samus, right?" The blonde princess asked tentatively, wary of the sparks emitting from Cirvex's metal hull. "What… what happened in there?"

Before answering the princess, Samus leaped up from her opened pod and landed gracefully on the ground just a few feet away. She was just in time, as the sparks grew ever larger and would have reached her had she stayed. "I'm alive," she muttered to herself, ignoring the other three next to her. "This isn't a virtual reality anymore. I'm alive."

Louie remained silent for a second before finally asking, "So… does this mean that Olimar's dead?" Samus didn't reply, but that was all the answer the blond Hocotatian needed. He grabbed the yellow Pikmin, slowly lowered himself to his knees, and embraced the plant creature tightly in a hug.

"_C-congratulations, Samus…_" Cirvex spoke up. "_You s-survived… Honestly, I really c-can't imagine you dying. I s-suppose if there was a part you would have d-died, it would have b-been during the t-third or f-fourth rounds._" His voice crackled and fizzed, growing ever distant. "_B-but what are you going to do now? Is there a-anything you have w-worth living for…? Y-you said it yourself; y-you have no one w-waiting for you…_"

Samus looked down at the ground and clenched her fists. "You're right," she said. "I really don't have anyone waiting for me. But that doesn't mean…" She looked up. "That doesn't mean there aren't people out there who never will care." Lucas and Roy flashed in her mind briefly, and she felt a sympathetic pang in her heart.

Silver and Peach backed off, allowing this moment between survivor and machine. Louie's eyes widened, and instead of retreating with them, he started to move closer to the machine whilst using the yellow Pikmin as a shield. Silver tried to drag the small Hocotatian back, but Peach grabbed his arm and shook her head. _Let him do his own thing_, she told him silently. Silver wanted to protest, but eventually relented.

"_S-so what are you going t-to do?_" Cirvex asked. "_I d-don't see you as the type of p-person who would willingly g-go out and m-make some friends…_"

"I wasn't that type of person, and I still am not," Samus said with confidence. "But I think I can be a little more open. Not everyone has evil intentions." _And maybe,_ she thought, _maybe I can meet someone else like Roy or Lucas. I will never forget them._

"_T-true… well, S-Samus… I have one more thing to a-ask of you._"

"What?"

"… _Kill me. T-The game is o-over, and I have nothing l-left to live for. I-If you don't take me out n-now, the probabilities that I w-will explode are m-moderately and a-alarmingly high. K-kill me and I w-won't take another soul._"

"Getting sympathetic now, are we, Cirvex?" Silver asked before he could help himself. Peach tapped him lightly on the arm, silently telling him not to intervene. The white hedgehog sent her a look and frowned.

"_N-no,_" the AI said. "_N-none of you in this a-auditorium were a part of my g-game. You h-have nothing to do with t-this._"

"We didn't have anything to do with this prior to tonight either," Samus shot. "Yet that didn't seem to stop you from dragging us into this anyway."

"_I could say a t-thousand apologies, and t-they wouldn't mean a thing to y-you, nor would t-they bring back the l-lives I've t-taken. You've already s-seen me at my lowest, w-what more do you w-want?_"

"Everyone here wants to go home."

"_They won't be able to if you don't kill me_. _Though I already am dead, and you've already killed me in the virtual world; I g-guess this would mark the t-third time I'm dying._"

"I didn't kill you," Samus muttered softly. "Olimar did."

"_Oh y-yes, Olimar,_" Cirvex seemed to sigh, his voice barely able to be heard above the crackle of the electricity. "_I was q-quite fond of him… and L-Lucas, too. S-Shame how it wasn't either of t-them that lived, but n-nothing ever turns out quite h-how you expect, does it? I e-even played favorites, I c-controlled everything that h-happened in that world… and I didn't s-save them._"

Peach watched the banter solemnly, itching to move and tell Samus to hurry and destroy the thing, but she supposed the survivor needed closure. What she could possibly need closure for, Peach didn't know, but what the princess _did _know was that it was important to Samus, and she wouldn't dare intervene with that.

Feeling a tug on her dress, the blonde turned to see her best friend looking up at her pitifully from the floor. Peach knelt down and embraced Zelda in a hug, whispering soft and comforting words to her all the while. "It's okay, Zelda… it's over."

The brunette slowly reached up with a clenched fist and deposited two objects into Peach's hands. The blonde blinked and moved back to unravel the piece of paper, and even in the dim setting she was able to read the words scribbled onto it. She supposed to light emanating from the electricity helped, and she was careful not to stray too close when she needed more of it.

"Zelda, this is…?" Zelda nodded, and Peach frowned. She needed to get this to Samus and relay the message as soon as possible.

Up front, Samus carried on her conversation with the machine. "I just want to know one more thing," she said, ready for the whole night to simply end.

"_H-hurry…_"

"… Was this whole thing really because you were mad at humanity as a whole for ignoring you, or was there someone in particular you weren't very fond of? What brought you to this point?"

Cirvex didn't answer at first, and for the moment there was only the sound of crackling and sparking. But eventually, he finally did speak up to respond. "_My father is the worst person I can possibly think of. H-He didn't b-beat me, no, but he a-acted as if I didn't exist. I know he was busy, b-but how could he p-possibly forget his own son? H-his own flesh and b-blood! I did e-everything to get his attention, and n-not once did he even acknowledge my existence. And the o-only support and approval I ever wanted w-was his…_"

Peach slowly made her way to Samus and placed the papers in the survivor's hand. Samus reacted in surprise at first, turning quickly to attack the one who had snuck upon her, but at seeing the blonde princess calmed down considerably. She quickly read the contents of the note and knew what she had to do without even taking the cues from the one who had given it to her. "Cirvex," she said, feeling odd at how the name rolled off her tongue, "I don't think you're giving your father enough credit."

"_I'm n-not giving my father e-enough credit?_" He sounded agitated, and the sparks grew with his anger. "_Y-you don't even know what you're talking about! You didn't know me! You didn't know him! You don't know anything!_"

"That's true," Samus replied, still calm. She had to be for this to work. "But I do know that your father loved you, and he hated the thought of you being alone. Him spending so many hours at work wasn't due to neglect or a lack of care; it was required of him and he did it to make enough to support the two of you. The world doesn't revolve around you; the world didn't begin with you, and it didn't end with you. Everything and everyone will go on just fine. You made such a big deal out of this being about yourself, but you didn't even once stop and consider what others may have felt about the whole thing."

She took a step forward, and Cirvex sparked more at her closer presence, but the survivor didn't flinch. Another foot ahead; one in front of the other, and she steadily made her way closer to the machine. The sparks that flew past her body didn't graze her, and she felt oddly at peace with herself; she knew what she set out to do. "I want you to have this," she said once she felt she was close enough, and knelt slowly to the floor to lay out the items Peach had given her.

"_W-what is that?_"

"One is a letter to you from your father. It was written on your birthday, five years ago. And with it is the present he gave you for that same birthday. Do you remember this?" She pointed to the cassette player, lying innocently on the ground. It was scratched and dented from age, but otherwise still in perfectly good condition. "Your father spent so much time making it for your birthday that it was a little late. You may have been angered that he forgot, but the time spent not working was time spent worrying about you and your wellbeing. You were so wrapped up about yourself that you didn't even notice."

Cirvex's electricity seemed to die down just a little, and he didn't respond. Samus assumed he was reading the note written for himself five years prior, and while she didn't quite know how he was reading it, she was willing to give him some personal space. Perhaps he had eyes or cameras around the auditorium that enabled him to see? It would most certainly explain how he knew who exactly it was he was talking to.

"_I…_" Cirvex seemed at a loss for words. "_… I never r-received this. February 10__th__ was the day I…_"

"The day you killed yourself," Samus finished for him. "If you had waited just a little more, you would have received this letter and this present. If it would have influenced you and changed your mind, I don't know. But there is the possibility that this night could have been completely prevented had you been a little more patient, and that's what matters. You're impatient, insecure, and narcissistic. And that has what has brought on the events of this night; you and your elaborate scheme for revenge."

The AI didn't respond. Samus knew she had him cornered, but she didn't know what she was going to do next, or how she was going to convey it to him once she had figured it out. Cirvex was thinking, pondering over the letter and if his father was indeed genuinely loving to him. Could it have possibly been…? If only he had waited for just a few more hours… All of this… could have been prevented?

A surge of emotion seized him, and the power within him that threatened to overflow was nearing ever closer to its peak. Samus gasped and took a few steps back, the electricity growing white hot and larger than they had ever been. A few stray sparks grazed her body and shocked her, but otherwise she was fine and the survivor took refuge behind an auditorium chair. She motioned urgently for Peach, Silver, and Zelda to do the same and they quickly followed her suit.

"Wait," Peach came up with a realization. "Where's Louie?"

"He went somewhere over there," Silver pointed. "But I can't see him! It's too bright! You three stay here; I'll go get him!"

"Don't be a hero!" Samus pulled the hedgehog down sharply by his quill when he stood up to move. "If you haven't seen him in a while, I don't think he's stupid enough to go there. And even if he is, that's his own stupidity getting him killed."

"Samus!" Peach frowned disapprovingly.

Samus turned to face the blonde with a stern look on her face. "I would rather we lose one person than two, princess," she said. "What would you prefer?" Peach remained silent, at a loss for words.

Back up on stage, Louie frowned at his finding. So he was right; Olimar's pod was still on the stage. But why? If he lost the game, wouldn't his pod move to down below? It could be because it was the final round and there was no longer a _reason_ for the second-to-last survivor's pod to be moved, but that didn't make sense because why would Cirvex stop there? It seemed right up his alley to just move the last pod down; why was Olimar still up?

The yellow Pikmin squeaked in fright; the electricity outpouring from Cirvex's hull was being absorbed by the creature at an alarming rate. It didn't hurt or feel bad at all, but it did wonder it did wonder if there actually was a limit as to how much it could hold and if it could save Louie if something bad were to occur. After all, the captain's safety was its first and foremost priority, even above saving itself.

Louie clambered up onto the pod, holding the yellow Pikmin's hand and leading it up with him. The blue Hocotatian looked down into the purple tinted glass at Olimar's prone body and wondered if the gas was already being leaked inside. He didn't know if it was visible or not through the glass and wondered if he still had a chance at saving his friend. Maybe it was too late, maybe he was stupid, maybe…

_Wait_, he thought. _Olimar's helmet! The gas wouldn't affect him either way!_ He smiled, ready to attempt breaking his superior out when another thought hit him. _But then… how did he get knocked out the first time? Maybe the gas Cirvex used can penetrate the helmet? But how? Is that even possible? Though there was that one time on the Distant Planet where Olimar and I were able to smell something awful through our helmets just fine, so… maybe it's something similar to that?_

Either way, he thought, he shouldn't rely on Olimar's helmet to save him alone. If there was even a chance at saving his friend's life, he would take it! At least to make up for that Titan Dweevil incident…

Before he could get to work on breaking Olimar out, however, his vision flashed white and suddenly there was a searing pain in his side. Something, he didn't know what, forced him off the top of the pod and he fell to the ground with a _crack_ from his helmet as it impacted the hard surface. The yellow Pikmin had fallen off with him and landed with a thud on his stomach.

"H-hey," he muttered, quickly sitting up. He flinched at the burning sensation he felt on his side and moved a hand to support himself. He couldn't check for any damage to his helmet; it was too bright and even the blue light on top of his head wouldn't help. Louie bit his lip, wondering if he should attempt climbing back up onto the pod –

And lost consciousness from the loud and deafening explosion that occurred not a second later.

**OoO**

"Fox McCloud here, we're finally in the building and are currently searching for any victims or survivors. Over."

"Do you _have_ to do that?" Falco muttered, waving his flashlight around in the darkness. "It's eight in the morning and this place is pitch black. Haven't the designers heard of lights?"

"I have to report my statuses and updates to General Pepper," Fox replied, not commenting on the bird's latter comment. "It's vital, and it's part of my job description. Yours, too."

"Yeah, but no one actually _does_ that." Falco shook his head. "You're the poster boy of '_follows all rules, even the ones that don't need to be followed_', Fox."

Fox shrugged and continued to make his way deeper into the unknown building. All he knew was that there was supposed to be a video game convention, or… something. It was on the news, but with his job he didn't have time to watch television or leisure around much. It was taxing on his personal life and his girlfriend's, but he supposed it was better to support the two of them than nothing at all. And he actually did like his job, no matter what Falco or Wolf said to annoy him.

"Sir, we have something over here!" Fox's attention was drawn to the soldier who waved him over, pointing his flashlight at a smoldering door. "This part of the building is sealed in, sir."

"Ram it down," the fox nodded to the other nearby guards and they nodded back in response, ready to follow his orders. They all grabbed the battering ram they had sent over to bash in the sealed entrances from earlier and pounded with all their might, but this time the door actually gave way and they poured in to see the damage within.

"Sir, we found some bodies over here," another soldier waved at him from down the hall before Fox could see what the others had found. "We can't identify them just yet, but they seem to be researchers, judging from the clothes they're wearing. You may want to take a look at this."

"Later. Have Wolf look at them for now; I'm sure he likes that sort of thing," Fox dismissed the soldier and headed into the newly opened room. Falco noticed and quickly followed him inside, and what they saw shocked them both.

The flashlights lit up a good amount of the place as the soldiers moved around, and Fox could easily call this place as some sort of auditorium. It smelt like burnt metal and fabric; an odd mixed smell to him, but it was all he could place it as. Many bodies lined the rows of seats, but they all seemed to be perfectly fine; just shocked.

The soldiers quickly moved in to tend to the ones closest to them, and Fox could hear them call and say, 'What happened?' 'Holy shit, where am I?' 'Who are you?' 'What's going on?' 'What happened down at the stage?' and smiled, knowing that everyone was alright. But the last comment did get at him and he moved closer down to the front, where a giant black crater lay in the middle of the stage.

"What the hell is that?" he asked mostly to himself, as there were no others nearby. In the middle of the black crater lay a small and thin strip of metal standing vertically; sound seemed to be emerging from it, but he had to move closer to figure out what it was saying.

'_I love you. I love you. I love you. You are the person most important to me. I love you. I love you. I love you. I will never forget you._'

'_Dad…_'

'_I love you. I love you. I love you, Cirvex.'_

'… _I finally understand. … I love you too, dad._'

'_I love you. I lo…_'

The recording (was it a recording? Fox couldn't tell) fizzled out, and the auditorium was introduced to a creepy silence as the audience members were filed out. The fox moved ever closer to the machine, cautiously, to inspect it, and realized with slight disappointment that it was beyond repair. _Shame_, he thought. _I wonder what it was and what it was used for._

A sound of motion caught his attention and he swiveled around to see more audience members rise from behind the seats, shaken but otherwise alright. Falco caught up to him on stage and noticed the other machinery lying around. "Hey, what's that?" The bird walked closer to the purple parts and prodded at it.

"Hey, don't touch it!" Fox smacked his wing away, but the large component fell apart to reveal a small person lying just beneath. He gasped and immediately moved to make sure the person was alright. The victim was lying on his back, completely unconscious, and whatever he was wearing was completely black with soot, and many scratches adorned both his clothes and the odd helmet on his head. Something stuck out of it; a small glass ball at the end of a thin stalk.

"Fox, there's another person here too," Falco muttered, leaning down to inspect the other unconscious victim. He looked to be in similar shape as the other person Fox had found, only this one's helmet had a large crack running down the back. A small yellow creature crawled out from beneath the man's body and Falco almost dropped him then and there. "Whoa! What the hell are you?" He fumbled for his blaster.

"Stop!" A feminine voice cried, and he turned to see the four audience members that had survived the explosion. She had beautiful long and blonde hair flowing down her back, and a crown cutely adorned the top of her head. Her pink dress looked wonderful on her body, he thought. "Don't shoot it," she said. "That's a Pikmin. It's harmless, I promise."

"Harmless?" He looked down at the creature, which looked back up at him with great big eyes. "More creepy than anything," he muttered, but put the blaster away. He turned to the survivors. "Yo. What the hell happened in here?"

The four audience members looked at each other wearily. They all looked as if they'd been in for a rough night; three of them had bags under their eyes, and the fourth just looked as if she wanted nothing more than to just jump in bed and sleep for the rest of time, even if she didn't look as tired as the rest. The brunette's eyes were red and puffy, and tear trails still stained her cheeks, revealing the fact that she had been crying earlier. The white hedgehog just looked tired and shrugged.

"It's a long story. Believe me. Are you the police?"

Fox nodded. "Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, at your service, and we have all the time in the world. But first, mind identifying these two here first? Then you may introduce yourselves."

The four moved to the top of the stage (but all carefully avoided the black crater in the middle, Fox noted) and moved closer to the two soldiers. "That's Olimar," Peach pointed to the one Fox was leaning over, "and that's Louie." She pointed to the one Falco held. "We don't know their last names."

"I see," Fox muttered, looking down at Olimar. The guy looked like he'd seen better days, for sure.

"Louie really was an idiot," he heard the blonde girl with the ponytail say, looking off to the side. Fox wasn't sure what she meant by that, but decided not to comment.

"So… your names. You realize you're all going to have to give testimonials to the police later, right? It's a boring process, but it's necessary and they'll leave you alone faster if you do it as soon as possible."

"… Right," the blonde princess muttered. "My name is Peach Toadstool."

"Samus Aran," the blonde woman with the ponytail introduced herself. She didn't say anything more.

"Silver the Hedgehog," the hedgehog said. "Well, my last name isn't 'the Hedgehog', but… you get the point."

"Zelda," was all the brunette said. She offered nothing more.

"I see," Fox nodded. "So is Olimar your friend? Or…"

"Screw it," Falco groaned. "What the _hell_ happened here? Who sent that distress signal and why the hell didn't any of you bother _opening the damn door _so we could come in here? What the hell is that, what happened to these guys, and just… what the hell?!" He pointed to the crater in the floor.

Peach rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Distress signal? I didn't do anything like that…"

"I couldn't have," Samus shrugged. "To answer your question about the crater, it was something that blew up. What that something was, I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later." _It's odd how Olimar's here, though_, she thought to himself. _Did Cirvex not bring him under?_

"I didn't," Silver said, and Zelda merely shook her head. "I guess those two got caught in the blast…"

"Well, they're both alive," Fox said after giving both of them another look over. Silver, Peach, and Samus seemed surprised; Zelda looked off to the side nonchalantly. "That blond guy though, Louie, he seems to be in worse shape. We'll get them both to the hospital and hope they'll make a speedy recovery. I think they'll be alright though; their injuries aren't too bad. Louie's side just got burned, but it's nothing major. We can get that treated quickly."

The others nodded dumbly, still struck by his first announcement. Olimar was alive? They looked at each other. "He's really… alive?" Peach asked for clarification.

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" Fox blinked. "His clothes are just singed and his helmet is scratched, but other than that he's perfectly fine. I guess that machine he was hiding under saved him from the brunt of the blast."

Samus was busy thinking to herself. _How did Olimar survive? There has to be a reason why Cirvex didn't put him under immediately… It couldn't have been because he favors the little guy; he liked Lucas a lot too, and yet he didn't hesitate putting Lucas under… what happened? _Then, she was stricken with a flashback as she remembered what exactly happened right before she took the leap of faith into the exit of the virtual reality.

* * *

><p><em>Samus panted, having caught up with Olimar in a relatively short amount of time. His small height and stature were no match for her, she thought, as she started to pass him. The exit was so near, so close, she could almost taste it…<em>

_As for why she had thrown him and given him a head start, she supposed it was only fair. He wasn't like Wario, who she just knew from the beginning was a sorry excuse of a human being. She had been forced to work with Olimar, however short amount of time it was, and in that time she had seen that he tried to keep as many of them alive as possible, just like her and Lucas. In that regard, he was admirable, and thus deserved at least a small chance to live._

_But it seemed that the extra boost and head start she gave him meant nothing now, however, as she was now in front of him and just a few feet away from the finish –_

_When suddenly she felt a new weight on her bottom right leg. It wasn't heavy nor uncomfortable at all – in fact, it was quite light – but the sudden weight nearly made her trip and lose her balance. She looked down to see Olimar clinging stubbornly to her leg, and she deduced that he must have thrown himself at her at the last minute, knowing himself that he couldn't possibly hope to overcome her._

"_What are you doing?" She asked, though she already knew the answer._

"_I may as well try," Olimar muttered softly. "If this doesn't work, then at least I'll know that it doesn't work and I'll keep it in mind for next time."_

_Samus bit out a short laugh at the Hocotatian's humor and ran faster. What else was there to lose? If both of them ran through the exit at once, what would happen? Both would be allowed back to the world of the living, or both would be killed on the spot. While the latter didn't serve as a favorable choice for the two, it was still worth a shot._

_Whatever it takes to save everyone still alive, Samus thought as she reached a hand out and passed through the finish line. Whatever it takes._

* * *

><p><em>So that's it<em>, she thought, smiling. The shock of having actually woken up in the real world must have made her forget. She was so busy focusing on the fact that she was _alive_ that… she didn't really think much about anything else. So she did end up saving a life after all. She was glad.

"So…" Peach brought up the subject she had been thinking about the entire time but was too timid to say. "What about the bodies Cirvex promised us? He said he'd let us have them…"

"Bodies?" Falco raised an eyebrow.

Peach nodded at the unasked question that would have followed. "Unfortunately… I don't really know how to describe it though. It was murder, yet… kind of not? Who the murderer actually was, though, I can't say. It could be Cirvex or the one who killed them in the virtual world… it's all complicated, really… They were all really important friends and families of ours, and we were promised we would at least get them back…"

At the mention of dead bodies, Zelda burst into tears, surprising the two soldiers. Peach quickly moved to calm her best friend down and walked her off to the side, leaving only Fox, Falco, Samus, and Silver. "So," Silver muttered. "You might probably want to check the entire building before you leave. You'll find some pretty shocking things."

"I'll keep it in mind," Fox dully noted. He looked down at the two Hocotatians and wondered if he could carry them without inflicting more damage or aggravating their wounds himself or if he should just wait for the medics to arrive. They seemed small and light enough that he could carry them both at once by himself, but…

His decision making process was interrupted by Wolf suddenly making his way inside, heading straight towards his two co-workers and ignoring the others. "We found a bunch of bodies," he said grimly. "Those generic scientist guys were all slaughtered in the hallway, and we found a giant gloved hand in what appears to be a control room. Statistics say he was Master Hand, a famous engineer and video game designer. He was the one running this whole shebang tonight. We also looked in deeper and our men found a bunch of these pod-like things _way_ beneath the surface, and I mean like a five minute walk beneath; we blasted them off and lo and behold, more bodies inside."

"Were any of them alive?" Silver asked, fearing the answer.

Wolf looked at the hedgehog oddly and shook his head. "Not a one. All died pretty peacefully though, I think. They all looked like they were sleeping. It was hard to believe they were actually dead, but… none of them had a pulse."

Samus looked down and bit her lip. So Lucas and Roy really were… there wasn't a chance at saving them now.

Silver deflated. "… Oh," was all he could muster.

Medics filed in after Wolf, taking the surviving audience members the soldiers from earlier were to hesitant to take themselves lest they aggravate their injuries; the explosion from Cirvex's mechanical body was fairly weak, but these members apparently hadn't had the sense to duck before it occurred anyway. Four of them frolicked down to the front stage and carefully placed Olimar and Louie on two separate stretchers; the two Hocotatians looked so small in the sea of white…

Peach came back to them, yawning all the while. "I never realized how tired I was until now," she muttered. "It's been such a long night… I can't even feel much of anything right now. My emotions and senses are shot and numb."

"Mine too," Silver groaned. "I just want to curl up in a ball and sleep. How's Zelda?"

"One of the medic guys took her. I think she'll be alright. I hope so, for both her sake and mine." The hedgehog nodded.

"I wonder who sent the distress signal," Samus mused aloud, causing the other two to look at her. "I mean, if none of us did it, who could have? Maybe it was someone in the audience, but I'd like to think it was someone else entirely."

"Who?"

Samus turned to the black crater in the ground where Cirvex used to stand, and the other two followed her gaze. All that was left of him was a single strip of metal standing horizontally with a small chip on top. Cirvex's final words were located on that chip, but since it fizzled out there was no use for it anymore. Everything was gone forever, and nothing could be salvaged.

"Even if he did lock them all out and render the call useless, he still did change in the end."


	17. Epilogue: Like Clockwork

**A/N: I based the majority of the funeral service in this chapter on the funeral my grandmother had last year.**

**Well guys, this is it! The final chapter of One Last Dance! I really, really cannot believe I actually finished this… It's been a **_**lot**_** of fun, and thank you all so much for sticking with me, even after I stopped updating for eleven months (whoops)… I do hope these past weekly updates have made up for it.**

**There is a reason I wanted to end this story today. That reason simply being… today is my birthday! Today I have grown a year older, and I got a Wii U. Already played it with two of my close friends, and it was great! A **_**lot **_**of fun.**

**So once again, and for the last time, thank you all so, so, **_**so**_** much for staying with me and reading this to the end. I'm really sad this story has come to an end, but I guess it had to finish sometime. What am I planning on doing next? I do have another Smash Brothers story planned, but I'll probably start up **_**When the Clock Strikes Midnight**_** again soon too. (It's also a SSB story, so feel free to check it out if you want!)**

**I think it's really cool how I managed to end this story on my birthday. And this is my present to all of you.**

**OoO**

**One Week Later…**

"Hey, Olimar, when do you think we'll be able to leave?" Beat. "I know that we're still weak and all, but I'm really itching to get back to Hocotate. Not so much to get back to Hocotate _Freight_, but just back to our home planet in general. I know your family must miss you. My aunt's been sending me a lot more mail recently after hearing that I got hurt, but really, it isn't so bad. I can't feel much of anything right now; the doctors did a pretty good job of nullifying the pain."

His only response was a series of steady beeps and a low hum of static electricity. "Do you miss your family, Olimar?" Silence. "I miss them too. They were really nice and accommodating when I had to suddenly stay over for a few days that one time. It was a lot of fun and I was sad to leave, but they did promise that they'd keep in touch… and they have. Here, look at this."

He reached into a bag and pulled out a couple of envelopes, all in pristine and perfect condition, as if they had never been touched. The letters all piled on the still form lying beneath purely white sheets, and some fluttered to the floor as space became less available. "These are letters from your family, Olimar. Your wife and kids. They're really worried about you, you know, after hearing what happened on the news. They must be absolutely relieved to hear that you were one of the survivors, but that doesn't mean anything if you can't reply to them and prove that you're alright." A fist clenched tightly around the white fabric, and his body started to shake. "So wake up. Wake up and tell them that you really are okay. Wake up so that we don't have to worry anymore."

A door opened behind him and he turned to see a short man (short by the common standards of this world, but really the man was much taller than the blond himself), clipboard and pen in hand. "Louie? You're supposed to be in your room," he said, not unkindly. He seemed surprised, but not irritated or frustrated.

"I know," Louie shrugged. "I wanted to visit Olimar again."

"Well… he's still in a stable condition, so that is good," the mustached doctor nodded, tapping his pen on the clipboard. Louie's ears twitched at the _tap_, _tap_ sound it produced. "But I really can't figure why he isn't waking up. It could be a side effect of being inside of the pod, but Samus was in there for almost the same amount of time yet she was perfectly fine. His vitals are normal, and we couldn't find traces of any foreign chemical or agent in his body, so this… is really peculiar."

"Maybe he's just really tired," Louie looked over at his senior's prone form lying on the bed. "He's been through a lot in one night."

"But that was in the virtual world. It shouldn't affect him out here."

The blond shrugged. "A psychological thing, maybe? I wouldn't know. The important thing is that he's alive, right? And as long as you promise he'll wake up someday soon, I won't worry about it too much."

"I can't promise that, Louie, and you know it." The Hocotatian's ears dropped, and the doctor quickly noticed. "But he _is_ alive, and that's what matters most. By keeping him here, we can keep him that way and immediately come to his aid should anything bad happen. I'm sure he'll wake up someday, maybe not so soon, but I wouldn't beat yourself up over it, Louie." He waited for a moment to let his words sink in before moving on to the next topic. "Now let's talk about yourself."

"There's nothing _to_ talk about," Louie turned his head away. "I'm fine."

"_Fine_ doesn't really begin to cover what you did back there. All you have is a couple of scratches, bruises, and a second degree burn to show for it. We were able to heal and fix you up pretty well, but that doesn't mean you should go walking around the second we tell you to stay and rest."

"I'm okay, really," Louie persisted. "You don't have to be so protective, Doctor Mario."

The doctor sighed, shaking his head. "While it may be part of the job description, I really do care and hope you don't reinjure yourself. That's the point of being told to stay in the hospital, Louie. The more you move around, the longer it will take for you to heal. I know you don't like it here, but I'm only trying to get you out as fast as possible."

"Now you're just making it seem like you hate him," a new voice interrupted and the two males turned to see a slender blonde standing at the door, holding a vase of flowers. She knocked lightly on the wall. "Mind if I come in?"

"You're already halfway inside, Samus," Doctor Mario rolled his eyes and Samus smirked, making her way next to Louie. "I take it you're done with the physical examination?"

"Finished a few days ago, actually. I've been trying to get approved of a visit since then, but Olimar's room was always closed off for some reason. I was persistent, though, and eventually they relented, and here I am now." She had an aura of confidence around her. "Did anything happen?"

"Not much," Louie responded before the doctor could. "I'm okay, Olimar is okay but still sleeping, and that's pretty much it."

Samus nodded, "I see." She pulled over a chair and sat next to Louie beside Olimar's bed, and reached over the blond Hocotatian to place the flowers down upon the stand. "Peach is on her way over, too."

"And Zelda?" Doctor Mario asked, looking over his clipboard.

"She's getting ready the preparations for Link's funeral," was the blonde's response. "It's today. Are you two coming?"

"I don't have any patients I need to tend to today, so I will be there," the doctor nodded. "What about you, Louie? Are you going?"

Louie stared at Olimar's body before responding, "I didn't really know him, and I don't know many people who are going to be there. But I guess I'll go."

"To be polite, right?" Samus nudged him lightly. Louie moved with the motion and sprung back up instantly.

"Yeah. But what about everyone else?" He asked. "Are we holding funerals for them, too?"

"Of course," Samus nodded. "The funeral today isn't just solely Link's; it's for everyone else, too. Zelda just likes to call it Link's funeral because she's biased and apparently doesn't even really consider the other seventeen we're holding the service for," she clenched the sheets of the bed in irritation.

Doctor Mario sighed. "Now, Samus, please don't get frustrated. Zelda has been through a lot lately. Not nearly as much as you," he added quickly as the blonde turned to glare at him, "but still a lot. Link did mean a lot to her, and I'm not saying this excuses her completely dismissing the other seventeen who lost their lives to Cirvex, but just let her have this. Just this once. Any time after this you may reprimand her and I won't even bat an eye, but just this one, leave her alone."

Samus scoffed and looked away. Louie shook, unnerved by the sudden hostility emanating from the irritated female beside him and brought up the questions he had been wondering, "What time is the funeral service? When should I get ready?"

"It's in two hours," Doctor Mario answered, smiling lightly. "You won't have to change, Louie; you're allowed to go in what you're wearing now."

Louie looked down at himself. A thin white hospital gown covered his body in place of his usual spacesuit, and a methane mask was strapped to his face to allow him to breathe. A thick wire connected the mask to a supply tube hanging from a portable metal rack next to him. He shuddered. "I'll have to lug this thing around?"

"We can roll you in a wheelchair if you so wish."

"… I'll carry myself, thank you."

"Are you sure that's alright, doctor?" Samus groaned, looking down at Louie. The Hocotatian shook under her gaze. "At least change him into a black gown or something. As of right now, he'd just stand out."

"I suppose you're right…" the doctor sighed. "But our hospital doesn't really carry black gowns."

"I can just stand in the back," Louie offered, but his voice went unheard.

"Maybe I can call Peach before she gets here and ask her to bring one of her dresses." Louie shook his head frantically. "I'm sure she can quickly cut it and sew an outfit for you in no time; it's not like she doesn't have enough fabric for it, and I'm sure she has many other similar dresses she can wear instead."

"No thank you," the Hocotatian groaned.

Doctor Mario smirked and sat in the nearest available chair. "Oh, I'm sure she'd be happy to create a dress for you, Louie! Just simply ask and she'll do it. She is a very nice and understanding woman; there's no need to be afraid!"

Louie's voice had become so low the only sounds the other two conscious people with him could hear were muffled mutterings through his mask. His face was tinted a light pink, but the color seemed to deepen with each passing second.

Samus decided to continue. "I think this is actually a splendid idea. I'll call her right now." She kicked off her shoe and held up her foot to watch as Louie immediately threw himself at her, arms flailing to prevent her from reaching her phone. Doctor Mario quickly rose from his seat and steadied the methane bag to prevent it from falling over. The mask was securely strapped to Louie's face, and thus he needn't worry about it much. Samus idly dialed Peach's number as she watched the blond Hocotatian struggle futilely against her foot.

"Hey, Peach. It's me." She looked down to gauge Louie's reactions. He was still trying to get over the seemingly mountainous blockade that was her big toe. "Have you left your castle yet? No? That's good, because I have a favor to ask you." Louie's eyes opened and he smacked the toe out of the way, clambering up her leg. Doctor Mario, laughing all the while, picked him up with ease and held him in midair. "Do you have a spare dress you wouldn't mind destroying? Louie here doesn't have anything he can wear to the funeral service later today." Louie tried kicking the doctor away, but the taller man held him far enough to not get hit. "You do? That's great. I'm sure Louie would appreciate it very much. Thank you, and we'll see you when you get here." She ended the call and snapped her phone shut.

Doctor Mario was still laughing as he let Louie back down on the ground. The Hocotatian mumbled something and quickly climbed back up on top of his chair. "I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't quite hear you," the doctor chuckled.

"I hate both of you," Louie repeated, face now a steady red. "And I'll sue you for manhandling a patient."

"Manhandling?" Doctor Mario doubled over in laughter once more, and even Samus couldn't suppress a snicker. "You know, Louie, if you would have just listened to me and stayed in your room, none of this would have happened."

Louie sunk further into his seat, arms crossed. He _hmph_-ed, refusing to acknowledge or talk to the other two during the rest of his stay at the hospital. The only thing he could hope for now was for Olimar to wake up and be tossed into the same situation he was in. _Unlikely_, he thought, and he groaned once more.

"That was fun," Samus said contentedly, all previous irritation at Zelda gone. "But really, Louie, Peach isn't that bad. She really is a great designer, and she's made all of her clothes herself. I've never asked her to make anything for me, but I know she'll do something good for you." She ran her hand through Louie's wispy blond hair lightly, now unrestricted by the lack of a helmet. "Okay?"

Louie grunted in response. Doctor Mario almost exploded with laughter again, but managed to contain himself. Samus smiled. "Good."

The three settled into a comfortable silence then after. The only sound in the room was the beeping of Olimar's heart monitor and the hum of the machines constantly checking his vitals. He wasn't on life support as he didn't need it, but Doctor Mario insisted on the extra equipment in the case that something went wrong so he would be alerted instantly and be rushed to fix it. Louie didn't have much of a problem with it, but it did sadden him to see the person he looked up to so helpless on a hospital bed. He'd never imagine it'd ever happen, even after all the adventures they had together.

The door creaked open, and the three turned to see a familiar face looking up on them. A smile broke onto Louie's face finally and he opened his arms as the creature pounced upon him. "Hey, buddy," he murmured into the large ears of the yellow Pikmin. "How are you?" It cooed in response.

Doctor Mario sighed. Normally he would take the Pikmin off of the patient to prevent it from aggravating his injuries, but Louie seemed to not be in pain. He would allow it for now. _But one sign of pain from Louie, and the Pikmin will be forced to get off_, he thought grimly.

"Apparently it seems fine after nearly being blasted to pieces by that policeman," Samus shrugged. "They don't really deal much with trauma, do they?"

"Not really," Louie responded, running his hand lightly over the Pikmin's head. "They never really seem scared by anything, actually. Even if they're faced with a great danger, they'll just run headfirst into it if there's no one there to stop them and hold them back. I guess that's why they follow Olimar and me. Without us, they don't really stand much of a hope for survival. I think Olimar mentioned the Pikmin practically being extinct when he first crash landed on the distant planet, too, and now look at how well they flourish."

"So you and Olimar repopulated the Pikmin species?" Doctor Mario asked, leaning in curiously. A doctor he may only be, but the mechanics of the creatures on that distant planet fascinated him greatly.

"Not if you put it like that," Louie muttered, looking away. Samus snickered, and the doctor groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"Better watch what you say, Doctor," the blonde female smirked.

Doctor Mario glared up at her. "Right, Samus. Whatever you say."

"In a way," Louie continued, ignoring the banter between the other two, "We did revive the Pikmin species, and we taught them how to survive. They know how to fight back against their enemies now, and while they still aren't really smart enough to avoid the natural hazards they really should be avoiding, they're still doing a lot better than before Olimar found them."

"Wouldn't that be messing with the balance of nature, though?" Samus asked. "Not to undermine yours or Olimar's efforts or anything, but from what you're saying it seems like the Pikmin were at the bottom of the food chain before you two arrived. Now that you've taught them how to survive, they're fighting against and actually doing well against the predators that have preyed on them before. They're moving up the food chain, and what then? If the Pikmin can't be eaten, those who prey on them will die out, and those who prey on _those_ creatures will die out, and so on. What about that?"

"Olimar did think of that," Louie responded without missing a beat. "I don't exactly remember what he said, but he did write about it in his captain's log when he was still stranded on that planet. It was a really interesting read; maybe he'll let you read it once he wakes up."

Samus gazed at the Hocotatian lying on the bed. "Perhaps."

"Olimar's a biologist, right?" Doctor Mario asked. "I believe I remember hearing about the notes he took and the research he did on the native species of that planet."

"He did," Louie nodded. "He wrote about their behavioral patterns while I wrote about how to cook and eat them."

The other two stared at him. "You're… joking, right?" The doctor asked, laughing hesitantly. "That's… a pretty crude joke, Louie."

"No, I'm serious. They were delicious."

Before the other two could respond, the door opened once more and two figures walked in. One was a dainty looking princess with flowing blonde hair, wearing a black dress that looked regal and exquisite but not quite out of place for where she was going, and the other was a shorter man, his brown hair combed neat, wearing a tuxedo. He nodded politely while the woman flocked straight to the two other blonds.

"Samus!" Peach said in delight, wrapping her arms around her new friend. "How are you?"

"Never better," Samus smiled. Hyperactive and ditzy the usually pink princess may be, but her intentions were always pure of heart and Samus could think of no one more innocent than her. "You got here pretty quickly."

"Mario didn't want us to be late," Peach giggled. Behind her, Mario shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"Hey," the new male lightly punched the arm of his cousin in welcome. "How are you?"

"Just fine," Doctor Mario responded. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Luigi?" Mario looked up at the white ceiling. "It's alright, I guess. I wasn't there to witness it firsthand. I'll admit that I refused to believe it at first, and maybe I was a bit hysterical. But it's been a week. I've been given time. While I don't think I'll ever be able to close the hole he left behind, I guess I should be glad that all I have to remember him by are fond memories."

"You weren't mad at Peach, were you?" His cousin asked in a low voice, not wanting the others to overhear.

Mario's eyes widened, and a look of genuine surprised crossed his face. He looked at his cousin incredulously. "Mad at Peach? No, she didn't do anything. It wasn't her fault. Why would I be mad at Peach? If anything, I was mad at myself for not being there for my own brother." He clenched his fists. "I never seem to be there for anything involving him, and I regret that now."

Doctor Mario sighed and rested his hand on Mario's shoulder. "You're going to the funeral, and that's all that matters now. You're going there for _him_, right? That should be enough. You can say everything you need to get off your chest there."

Mario let out a breath, relaxing his body. "I guess."

The two cousins jumped and stared at the sight directly ahead of them as a loud noise suddenly reached their ears. Louie was again out of his seat, trying to run away from the blonde women while said blonde women were easily holding and pulling him back, trying to get his measurements. It was an amusing sight and Louie seemed to try and bite the two. It didn't do much with the mask over his mouth.

"Let go of me!" He growled. "I have my Pikmin!" The yellow Pikmin in question blinked and idly pulled at the flower atop its head. It seemed to have no interest in helping Louie get out of his predicament. "Traitor!"

"Hold still," Peach laughed, lightly tapping his forehead and flicking his nose. "It'll be over before you even blink!"

"Nope," Louie shook his head. "I've made up my mind. I'm not going anymore, so you don't have to do thi-_iiis_!"

His voice cracked as he was suddenly and unceremoniously tossed onto the bed, below Olimar. The mere tiny size of the two Hocotatians allowed them to have as much space as they wanted on the bed at the same time and still have much leftover. Samus quickly moved to pin him down, and Peach quickly used the measuring tape she had brought along to take his measurements.

"I've never fitted someone so small before," she hummed in delight. "But there is a first for everything!"

"Fit Olimar!" Louie screeched. "He's smaller than me!"

"Yeah, but he's not going anywhere right now," Samus shrugged. "So you're just going to have to deal with it."

Finally Peach moved away from him, and Samus quickly did the same. Louie sat up and rubbed his arms vigorously, his face once again as bright as a tomato. "I feel violated," he muttered. The yellow Pikmin bounded up to him and lightly nudged his face. Louie pushed it away. "No, I don't want your comfort, traitor!" The creature ignored him and jumped back onto his lap anyway.

"The Pikmin are so cute," Peach cooed as she took out the black dress she had brought along. It was quite old and didn't fit her much anymore, and she was perfectly alright with adjusting it to fit a smaller person. "I wonder if I could ever keep one for myself?"

"There are many different kinds," Louie muttered, refusing to look at her. "The red ones have pointy noses and are resistant to fire; the blue ones have gills that look like mouths and makes them look as if they're horrified all the time and can't drown; the yellow ones like this have ears and are resistant to electricity; the purple ones are fat, lazy, and heavy; and the white ones have beady red eyes, are smaller than the other types, and are resistant to poison. And they're poisonous themselves, so enemies don't really eat them unless they're stupid. Which most of them are, but they're the dangerous kind of stupid."

"They all sound so _cute!_" Peach squealed, smiling in delight. "Even the purple ones. They aren't harmful or dangerous, right?"

"You aren't a bug and you're much too big to fit inside of an onion, so no. They aren't dangerous to you unless you decide to eat one."

"I doubt she'd do that," Samus rolled her eyes. She looked back to see the progress Peach was making on Louie's attire and was surprised to see that the blonde princess was working at a steady rate. The gown was already almost halfway done. "Wow, you work fast."

"The fact that Louie's so small certainly helps," Peach hummed. "And this isn't really a complex design, so I can do this pretty quickly. It'll take us about half an hour to reach the funeral service, so we still have a lot of time, but that's alright."

"How many people are going to be there?" Doctor Mario asked, grabbing a chair for his cousin to sit in.

"A lot, from what I heard," Samus shrugged. "Practically every single person in the audience, and the family members and friends of those who died. It's going to be packed."

"I'm not going to have to make a speech, am I?" Louie asked, already miserable.

Peach shook her head. "No, you won't, unless you have something really special you'd like to say about the person they're talking about. Because the only person linking you to all this is Olimar, and because he's alive, you won't have to do a thing besides sit and listen." Louie let out a sigh of relief. "All done!" Louie groaned.

"Bathroom's over that way, ladies," Doctor Mario smirked, opening the door to let them through. Peach picked up the newly made gown and Louie before walking out, followed by Samus who rolled the methane supplier. Mario arched his eyebrow at all the commotion but didn't say a word, as advised by his cousin's head shaking.

Louie's shouts of frustration could be heard throughout the entire floor.

**OoO**

"Thank you so much for coming," Zelda welcomed them as soon as they arrived. Peach wore her regal black dress, the Mario cousins wore their simple black tuxedos, and Samus and Louie wore their simple black gowns, the latter looking miserable. Samus rolled along his methane supplier, and thus he had to follow her along closely. _I hate having to rely on this just because we can't breathe the same air_, he thought.

The funeral service was held outside as no regular parlor could accommodate so many bodies and visitors all at once. The caskets were open, and the eighteen victims were spaced out evenly from each other. From what they could see, many people (friends, family, and even those who didn't know the victims all that well but were sad for them anyway) left behind little mementos and notes they knew would never be opened and read. If it would give them at least some comfort and closure, they would do it.

"I've never been to a funeral before," Louie admitted. "What do we do now?"

"Say our goodbyes before the pastor gets here," Doctor Mario answered. "Once the pastor gets here and everyone is seated, the service will really begin."

"All you really need to do is stay quiet," Samus told him. "And just follow me when we're given the flowers."

"Flowers?" Louie asked, but his question went unanswered for the time being.

Mario and Peach didn't say a word, but quickly made their way to Luigi's casket. They didn't seem to be on the verge of tears, but Peach seemed more serious and stern than Samus had ever seen her. They made their way up front, where there weren't many people crowded in front of their brother and friend, and began to say their final goodbyes.

Samus took Louie's hand. "Come on, Louie. I don't have anyone here I would really like to say goodbye to either." She quickly led him to the final row of chairs and sat down without another word. Feeling a bit out of place, Louie did the same.

They spotted a pink hedgehog and a red echidna standing in front of Sonic's coffin. Behind them were Silver and Shadow, looking down at the ground silently. The pink girl looked as if she were about to collapse into a crying fit at any second as she whispered words they could not hear, but manage to hold herself together until the orange fox next to her quickly and quietly led her away.

There was a redheaded girl and a girl with long black hair pulled up into two large pigtails standing in front of the casket of the fat man that Samus had killed in the first round. The shorter, black haired girl had a creepy white bunny with her, and she held it like a child would hold their most beloved toy. Louie could swear he saw a little red imp demon next to her, but it quickly vanished before he could actually confirm it.

A group of teenagers lined up in front of Red's coffin. They all seemed to be around the same age and had a completely equal ratio of males and females. Some were already sobbing, others seemed sad but not quite at the waterworks level just yet, and yet some others seemed completely indifferent about it all. Odd creatures surrounded them, but they weren't ones to talk.

Lucas' casket was visited by a redheaded boy who looked almost exactly like him if it weren't for the color differences. A few others of the same age, probably friends of the deceased blond boy, were there as well, saying their final goodbyes. Similar looking kids surrounded the front of Ness' coffin. The company at Lucas' coffin seemed awfully smaller than those of the others, and Samus felt a pang in her heart as she realized this.

Roy's, Ike's, and Marth's caskets were visited by many people Samus did not know or recognize. The colors of their hair varied wildly, from somewhat normal shades to absolutely absurd hues. She didn't want to judge them based on their hair color, but they seemed to really stand out among the humans. She did recognize Lilina, the girl Roy had fought against in the third round, but did not acknowledge the rest. Samus decided that she would visit Roy's and Lucas' caskets as soon as there weren't so many people around.

"Excuse me," their observations of the visitors were cut short as a green dinosaur made his way up to them. "Do you know where I might find Toon Link's casket? It's awfully crowded here…"

Recognition hit Samus instantly. "You're the guy who gave Toon Link your winning card." Louie looked up, alarmed.

Yoshi had a face of pain and regret. "I know. I'm the reason he was allowed inside, and I'm the reason he was killed. If I knew what was going to happen… I would have never given it to him."

"D-don't beat yourself up over it," Louie tried to comfort. He wasn't used to this… "No one knew what was going to happen; it wasn't your fault."

"I'm the only one who gave my winning card away," Yoshi sighed. "It _is_ my fault. If I hadn't done that… then that child would still be alive today, and he never would have had to go through the pain I inadvertently put him through."

"It really wasn't your fault," Samus said. "You didn't know it was going to happen, and thus blame can't be placed on you. What happened already happened, and there's no going back and changing it now. The most you can do now is say your good bye… and I believe he's over there, next to the older Link." She pointed at a casket off in the distance.

Louie turned to look at her. "How do you know?"

Samus shrugged. "I paid attention."

Yoshi nodded. "Thank you. You're one of the survivors, aren't you?" He asked Samus, who nodded. "Amazing. Can you tell me how far Toon Link made it in…? And if he died at least a painless death?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know." Samus shook her head. "But what I do know is that he at least made it to the third round, but I was unconscious when he was killed. I really don't know how he died, and the only one who was awake to witness his death was Nana, who was also killed… The only one who witnessed _her_ death was Lucas, and he…"

"I understand," Yoshi nodded. "Thank you anyway, though. And forgive me if I sound intrusive, but where is the other survivor? Is he here?"

"He's in a coma," Louie mumbled. "And no one even knows why. We hope he'll wake up soon."

The green dinosaur nodded. "I see. You sound awfully close to him, so I hope he wakes up soon and ends your worrying. As for Toon Link… I shall be off to visit him now. The world could have done better with a lively young one like him more than an old one like me…" He shook his head and made his way off to visit the child whose life he had accidentally sealed and given away.

"He was nice," Louie said after a moment of silence. "He shouldn't have to deal with that kind of guilt." Samus nodded.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>"If I may interrupt, when should we begin the service?" A large penguin wearing a fancy black suit made his way to the reception, where Zelda remained. "My name is Dedede, and I will be conducting this service."<p>

"Thank you," Zelda nodded. "Just… um, make sure not to use too many religious undertones, okay? Not everyone here is religious, and some may even take offense if you preach too much about God and all that."

Dedede smiled. "No worries, ma'am! I promise I will make this ceremony go as smoothly as possible. Go on and have a seat, I'll get started immediately." Zelda sighed with relief and quickly motioned to everyone that the funeral service was about to begin. It took quite a bit of time getting everyone seated, but soon enough it was time to start.

"Ladies and gentleman," Dedede began, his deep voice carrying over the audience and making himself heard, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the lives of eighteen wonderful people. Eighteen wonderful people who have lost their lives in a tragic accident." There was complete silence, not a whisper to be heard among the crowd. It was slightly unnerving for Louie.

_Accident? Is that what they're calling it now? _Samus thought in irritation, but decided not to let it get to her. It would do her no good to interrupt the person leading the funeral.

Off in the distance, she noticed the three police officers from the week before standing guard. They remained standing behind everyone to guard the ceremony from trespassers and unwanted visitors. _At least Zelda was sane enough to remember them_, Samus thought.

The pastor's words flew past her head. The most she could remember was him saying the names of the deceased, how old they were, and how well their lives were before that one night. He asked if anyone in the audience had anything to say about any of them, and it was then that Samus realized she was in for what could possibly be considered the most boring day of her life.

"Pit meant a lot to me," Palutena said when she went up. "He was a wonderful man, and really just about the best person anyone could ever ask for. He was nice, charming, funny, cute, and just an all-around great guy. Sure, he had some enemies, but who doesn't?" She smiled and tears came to her eyes. "The only thing I regret… is not spending more time with him before then. I got to hear his final words, the ones he meant just for me, and…" She let out a shaky breath. "I miss him."

That was it. It seemed that Palutena was aware of the mass of people who would probably want to say some words about their dearly departed loved ones and kept her own speech as short as possible to allow them to go. That was a bit kind of her, Samus noted.

The next hour was filled with many more speeches, just as predicted. The pink hedgehog, Amy, said a lot of great things about Sonic and predictably broke down halfway through her speech. Mario and Peach went up together to speak about Luigi. The red-haired girl and the pigtail black haired girl went up together to speak of Wario. Red had many friends with similar names, such as the cocky-looking Green, the sly Blue, the cutesy Yellow, the somewhat composed White, the messy haired Black, the white haired (or was it a hat?) Ruby, the fidgety Pearl, and so many more.

Lucas' twin Claus went up to speak for him, and Samus found herself smiling at every word that came out of his mouth. Lilina went up for Roy, Marth's apparent wife Sheeda spoke for him, and Ike's younger sister Mist had a turn as well. Yoshi went up for Toon Link, and Zelda for the older Link. One of Ness' childish looking friends spoke for him. Lucario and Pikachu had some Pokémon move up for them, but no one really understood anything they said. Out of politeness, they allowed them to stay until they finished.

Snake's geeky friend Otacon had a turn to speak, and so did a rather beefy looking man for Captain Falcon. Samus noted with a faint pang in her chest that not one person went up for Nana and Popo, the twins. _Nana fought so hard to see Popo again… they at least deserve to have one person speak for them_, she thought as she stood to deliver her own speech. Louie looked at her, confused, but with a simple motion she told him to stay there.

"I'd like to say something about Nana and Popo Climber," she announced as soon as she had reached the front. The audience members looked at each other, possibly confused as to whom she was talking about, but still not a sound emerged from the mass of bodies. "Those twins loved each other, and this didn't change even after being sent to the virtual world. Popo may have lost his life in the first round, but Nana didn't realize this and fought so hard to see him again. Do any of you even understand what a bond those two held? They had the strongest type of relationship; one so strong that even when presented with the opportunity to kill each other to survive, they wouldn't. All they cared about was getting the other out safely.

"I have never met Popo, but I did gather this from Nana during the time I spent with her in the virtual world. No one questioned their loyalty to each other no matter how annoying it would get, and once Nana realized that there was no chance of saving her brother, she became strong. She fought for herself, and I'm sure Popo would have done the same. They wanted each other to live instead of ruthlessly slaying everyone to selfishly get themselves out of there. Maybe none of you knew them, maybe you did but just didn't have anything to say. I was never close to Nana, but even I know when someone is commendable. And I hope you all realize that. That's all I have to say."

She made her way back to Louie, who smiled softly and nodded his approval at her. She smiled back. Now everyone who had died had at least someone say something good about them, and no one was left out. Samus closed her eyes. It was nice having people care about you.

"If no one else wishes to speak, we may begin the flower ceremony." No one said a word, and the roses were passed around to those who did not bring their own. Louie's eyes widened as the flowers he was given were almost as tall as him, and Samus suppressed the urge to laugh.

"The red roses are for family. The pink ones are for friends, and the white ones are for everyone else," she explained to him as the rest of the audience members stood, flowers in hand. Louie gripped the bouquet he was given tightly, unsure of whom to give them to. "If you want, you could lay one flower in each coffin. I'm sure no one would mind."

The blond Hocotatian nodded and quickly ran off to start his flower placing quest, rolling his methane supplier along with him. Samus looked after him for a moment before turning to rest a quarter of her flowers in Roy's casket. The rest of the flowers were divided among Lucas, Nana, and Popo. Once the last flower was laid down, Samus felt a sudden weight off her chest, and she felt satisfied with her offering to the departed. She lingered at their coffins just a moment longer before moving to let everyone else give theirs.

She noticed that many white flowers were given to the Climber twins, and she felt a surge of accomplishment well up inside her. It had to be that speech, she reasoned. They would have been forgotten otherwise, and she was glad she did it.

The entire mass of people watched and stood still as one by one, each and every coffin was closed. The pictures, notes, mementos that were placed inside each one were locked beside a body forever, never to be opened or read, but never to be lost either. Family members and friends were able to take one last look at their beloveds before the casket was sealed, and turned to leave. There was nothing more to do.

Samus turned to find Louie and get out of there as well when a man in a trench coat walked into her, sending both of them tumbling down. The remaining people turned to help them, but Samus shooed them off. "I'm sorry," she apologized to the man, holding out her hand for him to take.

Bright green eyes looked up at her, and Samus' eyes widened at the familiarity in them. Could it be that she had seen them before? One person came to mind. Coupled with the golden blond hair… "Cirvex?" But that couldn't be it; he was dead…

The man shook his head. "No." He grabbed her hand and helped himself up before turning to face her with a toothy grin. "Crazy! Crazy Hand. Cirvex was my nephew." He was covered head to toe in dirt and smelled awful; could this man really be…?

Samus turned to see if anyone had noticed them, but they seemed to be alone for the time being. She noticed Louie off with Peach and the Marios, so she knew he was in good hands. "But… Master Hand was a giant hand," she muttered to the man who identified himself as Crazy Hand.

"That's our real form," Crazy shrugged. "We also have more human appearances in case we want to make a public appearance! It's also just more convenient having an actual body than being a floating hand, hehe."

His hands twitched with each word he spoke, his body couldn't just seem to keep still, and Samus began to realize that he did indeed live up to his namesake. But he seemed civil enough for now, so she decided she would humor him. "But Master Hand revealed himself to us as a giant hand."

"It drains our energy, and I know my brother was really, _really_ tired when he unveiled the Cirvex 5.0. I dunno why he insisted on choosing that night specifically, but I guess it was important to him because it was Cirvex's birthday. Cirvex was a good kid; I wish I stuck around more…" His voice trailed off and he looked around, looking twitchy.

"I see… uh, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing here, Crazy?"

Crazy's eyes shifted from left to right before he leaned in close to whisper into her ear, "I wanted to see the funeral reception because I wanted to know if my brother or my nephew would be mentioned." He leaned back, eyes wide. "But they weren't! You'd think that they'd at least be mentioned in a passing manner if they were so involved in what happened last week, don'tcha think?" He rubbed his wrists vigorously.

"I… I guess so," she said. _But I really don't think the family of those involved would like Cirvex mentioned to them anytime soon._

"So I did something. Something a little special special," Crazy smiled, lightly hopping up and down on his feet. "I made graves."

"Graves?"

"For my brother and for my nephew. They were good people too, I would know! I lived with both of them! I know how they were like at their best and at their worst, and even if they were completely bad people, which they weren't, I think even they would deserve at least some sort of burial site, yeah?"

"I guess." She wanted to leave. "I should really be going now. It was nice meeting you, mister Crazy…"

"Wait wait wait," Crazy grabbed her wrist before she could get too far and spun her around to face him. "If you want, I can show you the graves! Let me show you! You can bring your friends over there too." He gestured to Louie, Peach, and the Mario cousins. Samus bristled at him knowing who her friends were, but quickly backed down. She _had_ been spending a lot of time with them recently…

"… Fine. But don't try anything," she warned, narrowing her eyes. Crazy grinned that smile of his.

"I promise I won't."

**OoO**

The group of six did not have very far to walk. They passed Zelda on the way and invited her to join them, but at the first mention of Cirvex completely changed her mind and refused to go, no matter how hard they had tried to convince her. Samus suggested they simply move on, and with a little regret, left the brunette princess behind to grieve over Link's coffin before it was lowered into the ground.

Crazy led them to a small hilltop, where one single tree rested. It wasn't very far from the cemetery, and it overlooked a good portion of the city. The sun shone brightly, almost seeming to illuminate each and every blade of grass, flower petal, and creature, giving the entire area a soft glow. "You should see this place at night," Crazy told them. "When the city lights up… it's a real beauty."

"What is this place?" Peach asked, looking around in awe. "It is beautiful."

"My brother liked to come here a lot when he was a kid, and I came along too because it was real pretty. When he had his kid, Cirvex was shown this place too, and he loved it! Which was great, because I can't imagine a single person who would actually dislike it here. And I mean that my brother showed his kid this before he got so busy with his job, of course. So, right this way!"

He led them to the top of the hill where the tree stood still. Beneath the branches, in the shade, were two crudely marked and obviously handmade gravestones sticking from the ground, almost covered by bouquets upon bouquets of flowers. "My brother's kind of really rich, and since he died I got all this money since I'm the only one related to him left. So I bought all these flowers and these things to make this, because I know they loved it here and there's really nowhere else I can think of that would be more fitting."

"… It is definitely serene," Doctor Mario nodded. "I'm sure they would appreciate the gesture, Crazy."

"Yeah, yeah," Crazy smiled, hopping. "Come see what I wrote on their graves!"

The other five leaned in closer to make out the almost ineligible handwriting on the crude gravestones. After much squinting and unscrambling, they were able to make out the following words on Master Hand's grave: '_I'll miss you, brother! You were always great to me, and I hope you're doing well in the afterlife, wherever it is! We'll see each other again someday, I know it! After all, we have the closest bond, right? So wait for me!_'

On Cirvex's, they could read: '_Hey! I always thought you were really cool, and you taught me a lot of things like how to actually read and write. You were really smart too, and I was really sad when you jumped off that building. But… I think everyone hates you now and thinks you're a monster. But don't worry. I don't think of you like that; after all, I knew you when you were still alive. I don't hate you. I promise I'll see you again someday soon too, so have fun with brother while you're there!_'

"You can write something too," Crazy handed them a blue pen. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but I think they'd be happy if you did."

"… Crazy," Mario breathed. "You said you made these graves, right?"

"Yep yup!"

"Did you bury their bodies here, or did you just make the graves here without them?"

"I buried brother's body here," Crazy nodded. "He was in his hand form, so he was really big and heavy. It took me a couple of days to dig a hole big enough for him to fit, but I did it! So brother really is with us now. As for nephew, I was able to take one of his speakers from his mechanical body… thing. Because his real body's back at brother's home. But this is good enough, so I buried that here too. I worked day and night on it, and I worked hard!"

"… It really shows," Louie gulped. "You loved them."

"I did! I worked so hard and for so long that I didn't even have time to go home and take a shower or something, hehe. But that's okay, because now I'm done and I have these to show for my hard work. So go on, write something for both of them!"

The group of five each took turns passing the pen around and leaving short messages. None were as heartfelt or as genuine as Crazy's was, but none of them tried to upstage him or even wanted to. This was Crazy's creation, and they would not take it from him.

"I'm sad that I can't bury them near the other people that died," Crazy sighed. "But that's okay, because now they have all this space to themselves and no one can bother them. That cemetery must be pretty crowded, huh? So many bodies… but here, brother and nephew are free, and they can finally be happy together. And I hope that when I die, I'll be buried here too. How cool would that be, being buried with my family in our favorite spot?"

Peach covered her face in her hands and turned away. No one batted an eye or tried to stop her. The Mario cousins looked down at the ground, where they knew the bodies were under, and silently closed his eyes. Louie lightly held onto Samus' finger and squeezed it, not knowing what else to do. Samus remained silent.

"I'm sorry for taking time out of your day, but I really wanted to show someone," Crazy laughed. He was always so happy. "But don't tell anyone else, okay? Because if you do, some people who didn't like them might try to destroy their graves or ruin this sacred place, and that would make me sad. I don't really like being sad, so I'm going to keep this place as safe as possible, for brother and nephew. And maybe I can join them here one day, and someone else will stop to keep _us_ safe. It's probably a bad thing to wish for, but I want it."

"No, Crazy. It isn't a bad thing to wish for," Samus' voice came out in a whisper. "In fact, I think it's a great thing to want. I promise I'll help you keep this place safe from everyone else, and I promise to bury you next to your family when you pass away as well. I'll keep it going for you."

"… Thank you, Samus." Crazy blinked, surprised. His eyes widened when he saw the other four also give their silent agreement with the blonde woman, all shaking their heads in determination. "… Wow, thanks everyone! Having friends is really great. You guys are cool. I hope there are others out there like you."

"… I'm sure there are," Samus breathed. "You just have to go out and look. There are bad people out there, but for every bad person, there's a good one. And even the bad ones can have some capability of good inside of them. All you have to do… is draw it out."

"That's really nice. I hope it's true." Crazy smiled. "And I heard what's happening at the hospital. I hope your friend recovers soon too."

"Thank you, Crazy. And in a way, Master and Cirvex are still alive if you remember them. If they're truly forgotten, then they are gone for good. But by remembering them, they'll always be with you. In your mind, and in your heart." Samus thought of Nana and Popo.

"… That's a really good way of thinking! I like you, Samus. You're my friend." Crazy leaned in to give her a hug, and paused to give the other four hugs as well. It didn't even bother them to have dirt smeared on their dark gowns; nothing that trivial mattered. Peach sniffed and wiped at her face, and Mario leaned in to give her another hug. "I know you're probably really wanting to check up on your friend now, so I'll let you get to that. Thank you for today!"

"Thank you too, Crazy," Doctor Mario smiled.

"Yeah… and oh wait. About my nephew… He was in a really difficult time… I think you probably don't want to forgive him, and I guess I can't change that, but just know that he really wasn't a bad person. I don't think so. Everyone has a reason for what they do, right? And… I don't want people to be mad at him for this. I know he made a lot of people sad, but… he was really sad, too. I'm sorry for what he did. I know it won't bring anyone back either, but still. I'm sorry. Please remember him. I don't want him to die again."

The group of five turned to look at each other. "Maybe I can't ever really forgive him," Samus said after giving it careful thought. "But I'll promise you that I won't forget him. Even if it's just for you, I won't forget."

"M-me neither," Peach mumbled. "I heard his confused rants."

"Me neither," Louie said.

Mario and Doctor Mario took longer to respond, but eventually nodded. It was the best anyone would get out of them, and it was the least Crazy was willing to take.

"Thank you… thank you," he smiled. "I think I'll just stay here and wait for the lights to come on. It'll take a while, but I'll be waiting with brother and nephew. Thank you again."

With one last smile towards the survivor and her newfound friends, Crazy turned to sit beside the graves of his departed family, staring off into the city. He was as content as he could be. Not wanting to disturb him, the other five left without even a whisper to each other. This was the Hand's sacred place, and they had no more reason to stay.

**OoO**

"I really meant it when I said I'd help him protect that hill," Louie muttered idly, tracing circles on Olimar's white bed sheets. "It was really beautiful; I wouldn't ever let someone destroy that."

"Crazy was really childish and naïve," Samus nodded. "It'd be like destroying a child's dream, wouldn't it? I couldn't do that. So I'm keeping my word as well."

"M-me too!" Peach said determinedly. On the way back, she had broken into sobs, almost drowning Louie in her tears. It had taken the combined strength of both Mario and Doctor Mario to calm her down before she got on the taxi driver's nerves. Samus had merely remained silent throughout it all.

"I guess I'll keep my promise as well," Mario shrugged. "I won't ever forgive Cirvex for killing my brother, but Crazy didn't do anything. I'll keep the place safe."

"Same as me," Doctor Mario nodded. "There are good people in the world, however strange they may seem, and Crazy is definitely one of them… despite his name."

The five remained silent for a moment before Louie sniffed. "I'm pretty tired…"

"You were supposed to be in bed all day, is probably why," Doctor Mario tsked. He reached over for his clipboard and pen. "I'll have a nurse carry you back—"

"No," the Hocotatian said stubbornly. "I'm staying here."

"But you do need your rest—"

"I do not. I am perfectly fine." The yellow Pikmin squeaked, nodding its head in agreement. Louie smiled. "Hey, you aren't so traitorous anymore."

"Pikmin aren't going to save you when brute strength is involved," Doctor Mario muttered.

"Oh, really? Brute strength is all the Pikmin know—"

"What… are you going on about now, Louie…?" All five froze and turned to face the owner of the familiar voice. Olimar sat up idly in his bed, blearily rubbing his eyes. He yawned and patted the yellow Pikmin softly when it clambered up onto his bed to rub his cheek with its face. "Hey there."

"Olimar!" Louie would have tackled his senior had it not been for the methane mask being pulled by the metal beam and forcing him back. "You're awake! Actually awake!"

"You seem to be more talkative than I remember…" Olimar coughed, and Doctor Mario quickly left the room to get him a glass of water. "… I feel awful. What happened…?"

"Cirvex exploded and your pod was hit dead on," Samus explained quickly. "After that, you were in a coma despite not receiving many injuries. We thought at first it may have been a side effect of being in the pod for too long, but I was in one for roughly the same amount of time as you and I came out perfectly fine."

Peach thought for a moment. "Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it actually released you, Samus? After all, Olimar didn't get out until after Cirvex exploded. But anyway, I'm really glad to see you're awake, Olimar! It's really about time we had _some_ good news this week…"

Doctor Mario returned triumphantly, paper cup in hand. He handed the water to Olimar who stared at it oddly. "Um… no offense, doctor, but… how am I supposed to drink this?"

"You can remove the mask until—" He cut himself off. "… Oh. I'm… really not sure."

Olimar shrugged, handing the cup back. "That's alright… I don't really need it, anyway…"

"You missed the funeral service," Mario spoke up. "It was earlier today."

"…Darn," the Hocotatian sighed. "I suppose I can go… visit the graves later, then. It wouldn't feel… very right if I were to just go home without saying my final farewell to them…"

Samus nodded. "I can take you there whenever you're feeling better. They're burying the caskets tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll all be able to go and visit them the day after. Everyone, together."

"That'd be nice," Peach smiled. "And we can go visit Crazy, too."

"Crazy?" Olimar asked, confused.

Doctor Mario shook his head. "That is a story for another day. For now, go back to sleep and rest. Once I can make sure you're perfectly alright, I'll clear you and you'll be ready to leave the hospital."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Sleep? He's been sleeping for an entire week already," Louie frowned. "That's so boring."

"And you're still going back to bed too."

"Darn."

Samus smiled and shook her head before turning to the windows. She pulled up the blinds and slid up the glass pane, and the sound of cars outside and the entirety of the industrialized city made its presence known in the small hospital room.

"Do you think Crazy's still at the hill?" Peach asked, turning to Samus innocently. Samus decided that she had indeed found someone more innocent than the blonde princess, and he sat just beyond the city limits.

"I think so, yes." She turned to look back out the window, smile still in place, and waved. Even though there was no possibility of him seeing her, she waved anyway. Next to her, Peach did the same without question. The evening sky was beginning to turn to dusk, and an orange glow filled the room when Doctor Mario switched off the lights to allow Olimar to rest.

"I think," Samus said, "we'll meet all of them again someday, too."

"Who, Master and Cirvex?" Peach asked, bringing her voice to a whisper.

Samus nodded. "Yeah. And maybe they'll settle things out in the afterlife, and we'll meet all those people I met in the virtual world too and actually get to know them a little better. And it'll be nice, because there will be no more misunderstandings. And maybe we can all find it in our hearts to forgive."

"… Samus?"

"Yes?"

"… Don't leave us."

"Don't worry, Peach. I'm not going anywhere."

**The End.  
>(<strong>_thank you for reading.**)**_


End file.
